When the PU Board ordered a II PUC re-examination after the Chemistry question paper leak last week, Deccan Chronicle asked, what was the guarantee it would not happen again. At 3 am on Thursday, hours before the scheduled re-exam, we — and anxious students and parents — got the shocking answer. The board examination that determines the future of lakhs of students has been reduced to a farce. By someone’s design. The question is, who is — or, who all are — playing with the future of students? Will the police ever find out? Will the suspension of nearly 40 officials help ensure a leak-free examination on April 12? Most importantly, how will the government ensure that the students get a fair deal in admissions to professional courses this year?
If the first Chemistry question paper of the II PU final examination was leaked the day before the examination, this time drama unfolded at around 3 am early Thusday with the city police bringing the leaked paper to the attention of PU board director, Pallavi Akurathi. They forwarded three of the handwritten question paper copies being circulated widely in the city on WhatsApp to Ms. Akurathi , who on verification found that one of them matched the day’s question paper.
Losing no time, the board took the permission of primary and secondary education minister, Kimmane Rathnakar, to postpone the examination once again. A harried Mr. Kimmane himself arrived at the PU department office around 9 am to hold talks with officials.
But by 11 am there was chaos at the PU board office in Malleswaram as thousands of students and various organisations gathered before it to protest even as students erupted in anger elsewhere in the state as well. In Bengaluru, ABVP activists led the protest before the PU department. Anticipating more trouble, the Malleswaram police rushed additional forces to the spot and erected barricades around the office to stop agitators from entering it.
The state government quickly announced that 40 officials of the PU board were being suspended and a re- examination would be held on April 12 by an independent authority. But far from being placated, the protesting students demanded that minister Rathnakar and the PU board director talk to them directly.
A few grew restless and began to stone the office, while another group tried to block the roads connecting West Bengaluru, forcing the police to do a mild lathicharge.
A JDS activist, Nagesh created a stir as he climbed up the PU board office and threatened to commit suicide to protest the leak, but the police were able to bring him down by force. A student, Harishita, created more panic when she fell unconscious and had to be admitted to the K.C. General hospital for treatment.
Meanwhile, JDS state chief, H.D. Kumaraswamy and BJP leaders led by former law minister, S. Suresh Kumar arrived at the PU board office to discuss the situation with senior officials. Although they tried to convince the agitators to drop their protest as the government had already announced a slew of damage control measures, they met with little success.
Finally the police herded activists of various organizations like AAP, Jaya Karnataka, JDS and ABVP into buses and sent them away, returning the situation to normalcy by 3pm.
Students protest in front of the Department of Pre University Education, in Bengaluru on Thursday (Photo: DC)
PU board director likely to be transferred
While PU board director, Pallavi Akurathi, survived the first Chemistry question paper leak of March 22, she is likely to be transferred following Thursday’s second leak, according to sources. The government has already signalled its unhappiness with her by giving the additional responsibility of conducting the PU exams to transport commissioner, Rame Gowda, who has served as PU board director in the past.
If she is transferred now, it will be Ms Akurathi’s third transfer in a year. “As she took charge at the board only two months ago, the government has not suspended her. But she may be shunted out immediately after the PU examinations are conducted,” sources said. Meanwhile, going by unconfirmed reports Ms Akurathi broke down before Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa in his chamber and pleaded her innocence following Thursday’s chaos. She also reportedly sought a transfer from the department. The government has already
suspended 40 officials for the second Chemistry question paper leak in less than 10 days .
‘Harsh to penalise students this way for no fault of theirs’
With the PU finals being crucial for the future of over 1.75 lakh students in the state, Thursday’s second leak of the Chemistry paper has left many worried and anxious.
Having expected the board to be more alert to possible leaks following its experience of March 22, the students have been left nonplussed by this second unexpected leak. Although another re-exam has been announced on April 12, they point out that a series of competitive examinations like JEE (Mains), IIT, medical and engineering admission tests begin from April 1, making it hard for them to appear for it in their midst.
“Now instead of preparing for these examinations we are stuck with a II PU final question paper,” lamented a student, Shamitha Kulkarni, who is hoping to get into a medical college.
"My friends are very disappointed and are cursing the PU board. Our parents are also frustrated. I’m actually trying to convince them that it’s like a revision for the JEE mains. But beyond a point, it’s boring to study the same thing over and over again,” said another student, Mahalakshmi N.
Dr. Sridhar, founder of Deeksha says the second question paper leak has demoralised the students further. “It is harsh to penalise students this way for no fault of theirs,” he added.
187 question paper store rooms to be monitored
Unwilling to risk another leak, the education department has revised guidelines for the April 12 II PU Chemistry re-examination, putting the deputy commissioners of all districts in charge of making sure there is no room for anymore foul play. All the 187 strongrooms used for storing the question papers will be monitored by a team of officers not below the rank of assistant commissioner.
And all proceedings, from the time the strongroom is opened till the completion of inspection and despatch of the question paper bundles, will be videographed. CID officials will be kept abreast of the situation as the new guidelines have been issued on the insistence of their ADGP, Pratap Reddy.
The officer reportedly urged the education department to take measures like videographing the process involved in dispatch of the question papers and so on to help the CID keep track of things better.
Rotation of officials on regular basis a must
Many believe that the problem at the PU board is that some of its officials have been working in the examination section for decades. While the government did not take this seriously during the last leak, on Thursday it suspended 40 officials of the examination section, many of whom had been working in it for the last 15 years. One Mr. Venkatesh Murthy H , a system analyst with the board, had worked in the same department since 1999.
Among those suspended are PU board join director, Ranganth, six assistant directors including Mr. Jambanna S, private secretary to the director and several other officials, including two attenders. Interestingly, among the suspended officials, five were on deputation.
A retired officer of the department fully backs the demand of the students for rotation of PU officials on a regular basis. “This has not been done for decades, leading to chaos today. And now students are paying the price for the mistakes of the government," he regretted.
Protests in Mysuru
Hundreds of students who were left disappointed after the second PUC chemistry re-exam was cancelled following a paper leak, launched protests at different PU colleges here on Thursday. Marimallappa College students staged a protest wearing black shoulder bands and marched to the PU Board office. The protest march was led by BJP leaders Mr S.A. Ramdas and Mr Rajeev. Students also protested near Basaveswara circle.
Members of All India Democratic Youth Organisation, and All India Democratic Students Organisation too staged a protest near the deputy commissioner’s office and later took out a protest march to the PU board office. The students claimed that they needed time to prepare for the CET and other entrance exams and said the re-exam and further postponement was taking a toll of their nerves.
