THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala University has landed in a controversy after it was found that illegal modification of marks was carried out at the examination section of the varsity by misusing the user ID and password of the then deputy registrar of the section.
After the malpractice came to light, the vice-chancellor placed the officer under suspension, pending an inquiry. According to the suspension order issued by the varsity, illegal modification of marks was done in the first semester BBA / BCA examination of 2016.
During a hearing, the then deputy registrar admitted to the vice-chancellor that she had shared the system user ID and password with officers in the examination section. Since the user ID and password are strictly confidential, action was taken against the officer for sharing it with others.
Irregularities alleged
Meanwhile, former Syndicate members Jyothikumar Chamakkala and R S Sasikumar have alleged that chances of the same malpractice being carried out in the answer scripts of many other examinations were highly likely.
“Similar malpractice has been carried out during the revaluation of the LLB and BTech answer scripts as well. Tampering of marks has been carried out in as many as 16 examinations conducted between June 2016 and January 2019,” Sasikumar alleged.
According to former Syndicate members, the pass board gave a recommendation to award a total of 76 marks as moderation for 16 examinations. However, after the results were published, moderation to the tune of 132 marks was awarded illegally by officers in the examination section.
Many candidates who failed in the first-semester examination in 2016 passed after the huge moderation was awarded. Some of the students who did not know that they had passed, attempted to write the examination again, but could not do so as the database had already marked them as ‘passed’. It was then that the illegal award of moderation came to fore, the former Syndicate members said. “Only a comprehensive inquiry by an independent agency can identify the culprits. The degrees illegally awarded should also be revoked,” said Sasikumar.