Indian students pass exams writing 'Jai Shree Ram', cricketers' names; professors fired

Two professors at Veer Bahadur Singh Purvanchal University in Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh, are facing criticism for inconsistencies in grading answer sheets. It's reported that they gave marks to D Pharma students who wrote "Jai Shree Ram", cricketers' names, and unrelated content instead of actual answers.

As per a report by Aaj Tak, the matter surfaced when two student leaders named Uddeshya and Divyanshu Singh filed a Right to Information (RTI) request, claiming that the professors accepted bribes from students and unlawfully passed them.

They sought the roll numbers of about 18 D Pharma course students to review their answer sheets and requested re-evaluation. Additionally, they submitted an affidavit and a complaint letter regarding the issue.

Following this, Raj Bhavan initiated an inquiry into the issue on December 21, 2023. The university administration established a committee to probe the matter.

Upon re-evaluation of the answer sheets by external professors, a significant difference was noted in the marks assigned to the students. For instance, where the professors had given 52 and 34 marks, external evaluators deemed the same answer sheets worthy of only zero and four marks.

In response to the incident, Vice-Chancellor Vandana Singh fired two professors, Vinay Varma and Ashish Gupta.

Earlier, Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Arun Bothra shared on theplatform X, formerly known as Twitter, that a student placed money inside an answer sheet, asking for passing marks. He also posted a picture of the notes found in the answer sheet.

Also watch |India's SC issues notice to ECI on NOTA frame rule

“Pic sent by a teacher. These notes were kept inside answer sheets of a board exam by students with a request to give them passing marks. Tells a lot about our students, teachers and the entire educational system,” Bothra wrote in his post on X.

Many people responded to the post, saying it has happened to them or someone they know.

(With inputs from agencies)