Mumbai University (Express photo)
OFFICIALS INVOLVED in the assessment of answersheets at the University of Mumbai have refuted Vice-Chancellor Sanjay Deshmukh’s allegations that a mix-up in the answersheets had caused the delay in declaration of final year results. Deshmukh had earlier this week alleged that a nexus benefiting from malpractices in the university had mixed up answersheets in an attempt to sabotage the new assessment system. The allegations were made in reply to a showcause notice issued by Governor and MU Chancellor Ch Vidyasagar Rao to Deshmukh, now on forced leave.
The V-C has said papers were mixed up either at the college level or at the Exam House centre facilitating the centralised admission process (CAP).
However, officials working in the Exam House and principals that The Indian Express spoke to have said the allegations were far-fetched.
“The entire process of collecting, packing and sending the answersheets to the CAP centre was the same as every year. Moreover, teachers and principals were welcoming the move. Why will anyone want to sabotage the system,” said the principal of a suburban college.
“There is a delay in results simply because the new system was implemented without proper planning,” she said.
CAP centre officials, too, said the delay was because of improper planning. A senior official at the Exam House told The Indian Express that the data points to help identify students were not captured properly in the system leading to a mess-up in the reconciliation of answersheets. He, however, said this was not because answersheets were mixed up but because data was not captured properly during scanning as multiple agencies were employed for the same.
“These problems were not anticipated while implementing the new system and hence the university was caught unawares,” said the official.
While Deshmukh has sought an inquiry into the alleged mix-up of answersheets in his interim reply to the governor, university officials said the inquiry would not yield any result. Deshmukh remained unavailable for comment.
