Over 150 exam results delayed for 2 months due to MKCL

Nagpur: After a long hiatus, Nagpur University’s results are in the news again with over 150 of them delayed beyond two months, even though the examinations were held online.
NU officials blamed Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Limited (MKCL), earlier blacklisted by the university, for the mess. The first-year papers commenced on February 14 and ended on March 3, but students of these 150 courses are still waiting for the results.
Due to the introduction of online exams in the multiple-choice question (MCQ) mode, the results process had become simple and they were declared within a week or so after the papers in the last two years during the Covid pandemic. However, vice chancellor Subhash Chaudhari bringing in the Pune-based company proved costly for the university, as it has committed one blunder after another, officials said.
Despite stiff opposition from the Management Council and Senate members, the VC had roped in the blacklisted company by ousting city-based Promarc, which had gained expertise of late in conducting online exams and declaration of results. In fact, the VC took personal guarantee of MKCL’s performance during a Senate meeting, officials said.
Board of Examination and Evaluation (BOEE) chief Prafulla Sable could not be contacted. But senior employees from the NU Examination Section confirmed that MKCL had failed to properly fill up and upload the data, leading to the delay.
The firm has been awarded pre and post examination work by NU only for the first semester, while online papers are still being conducted by Promarc, after the former expressed its inability to manage that. The firm also lacks its own team for the work, and it had outsourced NU’s contract to a third party, employees told TOI.
NU officials said after Promarc held exams, it handed over the marks and other data to MKCL, but the latter lacked the expertise to process it. Promarc had also handed over the students’ enrolment data to MKCL, but the latter did not have technology to convert it and therefore, it had again started the same process of enrolling students, leading to a headache for colleges.
NU’s statutory members had already predicted poor performance from the blacklisted firm, during discussions in the Senate and Management Council meetings.
TOI had been reporting on MKCL’s dismal performance ever since it was introduced in 2013 and ousted in 2016. Quoting NU officials and former registrar Puran Meshram, TOI had reported that NU had terminated the contract with the Pune company in 2016 under former VC SP Kane and also blacklisted it. However, Chaudhari has gone out of the way to continue the contract with it without floating tenders, which is a must as per the Accounts Code.
No decision yet on online/offline exams
NU administration did not take up the raging issue of examinations in Wednesday’s Academic Council meeting. It was expected to table its BOEE’s resolution of conducting exams in the online mode, as Academic Council is the ultimate statutory body to take any decision in this regard, as per senior member Rajesh Bhoyar.
Even senior Exam Section officials had told TOI that they planned to table the BOEE decision for approval or rejection. However, in view of massive protests from students and political organisations, NU avoided tabling the issue. It means, NU’s indecision on online exams is still continuing, despite the VC assuring offline papers to minister Uday Samant.
The meeting discussed the convocation and cleared all degrees to be awarded on May 25, said NU officials.