A case of mass copying came to light on Wednesday at a centre in Bellary where examinations for postgraduate courses were being conducted by the Distance Education Centre of the Kuvempu University in Shimoga, by a team led by Anirudh Shravan, Bellary Assistant Commissioner.
Based on a tip-off, Amlan Aditya Biswas, Deputy Commissioner, deputed Mr. Shravan to visit the Sharbeshwara Institute of Nursing, where Sri Sai Education Academy was conducting examinations on behalf of the university.
“I was stunned to see the candidates indulged in mass copying. They were seen using guides, copy chits, etc, to write answers. It is clear the examination centre was heavily compromised,” Mr. Shravan told The Hindu .
Even after the Assistant Commissioner’s visit and his warning officials, mass copying went on during the second session of the exam held in the afternoon.
Mr. Shravan said Chief Superintending Examiner Balaswamy and the academy staff were mute spectators to what was happening. “There was no cooperation from them when I visited the centre. Only after my direction, they took back the answer sheets. I have faxed a letter, informing about the irregularities at this centre, to the Registrar (Evaluation) of Kuvempu University,” he said.
On Wednesday, examinations were conducted in Physics, Maths, Chemistry, Botany and Zoology for M.Sc. students, and in Kannada, English, Hindi, Urdu, Sociology, Political Science, and Economics for M.A students.
Enquiries revealed that undergraduate students of local colleges had been appointed as invigilators. As many as 1,200 students from various districts had appeared for the examinations and almost 90 per cent of them were serving as teachers or working in various government departments.
The examinations were being conducted in about 20 rooms and the candidates were made to sit next to each other. A couple of students were made to write exams in separate rooms allotted to them. Mr. Balaswamy expressed his helplessness over the issue and said he was being threatened.
Probe
Shimoga Staff Correspondent reports:
Kuvempu University Vice-Chancellor S.A. Bari has said Registrar (Evaluation) H.S. Bhoja Naik will visit Bellary to conduct a probe and submit a report.
