A nursing student has filed a police complaint against the principal of the Government Nursing College in Hassan, accusing her of tampering with an answer script so that he would fail in the annual exam.
C.G. Hiremath, a native of Muddebihal in Vijayapura district, stood second topper in the college in the first two years of his four-year B.Sc. course in Nursing. In the third-year exam, held in February this year, he failed in the Surgical Nursing paper, securing only 23 out of 75 marks. A student should get a minimum of 30 in theory to pass the exam.
“I was disappointed when the results were announced. I applied for a photocopy of the answer script from Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences. When I got the photocopy of the answer script, I was shocked as many of my answers were struck off,” he told The Hindu .
“As per the exam procedure, soon after the exam is over the answer scripts are scanned at the exam centre and sent to the university. Before my answer paper was scanned, many important answers which could have fetched me a good score were struck off,” he said.
The student has alleged that principal Shobha Devamane played a role in the incident. He claimed the principal had a grudge against him as he had raised a few issues affecting the student community in the college earlier. “When I wanted a reply from the institute on this, the principal did not respond and asked me to ignore it. I have a filed complaint with the police seeking action against those who struck off my answers,” he said.
The Hassan Extension Police registered his complaint on March 31 under Section 506 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code. The student has also written to the university seeking justice. Mr. Hiremath, who hails from an agricultural family, has been studying by utilising an education loan.
