KASARGOD: Higher Education Minister KT Jaleel, who has found himself under immense pressure in the mark-donation row, tried to turn the tables on Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala — who has been leading the attack against him— on Thursday only to draw more flak. Jaleel questioned the performance of the Congress leader’s son in the 2017 civil services exam, but his reaction did not go down well with various sections.
The minister, who was in Kasaragod to campaign in Manjeshwar, hurriedly called a press conference to reply to Chennithala’s allegations and a video of the Mahatma Gandhi University’s adalat that surfaced on Thursday. Chennithala, who is calling for an investigation into the marks controversy of Mahatma Gandhi University, should also be ready to seek an inquiry into the civil services examination of 2001, the minister said.
“In the written examination, the candidate who got first rank, Anudeep Durishetty, scored 910 marks,” he said. Without naming Chennithala, he went on to say: “In the same examination, the son of a prominent politician in Kerala scored 828 marks. You (media) find out who is the leader. But, for the interview, the politician’s son got 206 marks and the first rank holder got only 176 marks.”Jaleel said the politician had experience in going to Delhi and lobbying for his son.
Chennithala has one eye on bypoll: Jaleel
“So I cannot blame him if he thinks others are also like that,” he said. “I am not saying there are irregularities in the results. But something is odd. All I am saying is let that be also investigated,” the minister said. To be sure, a good number of candidates who clear the written examinations of UPSC do not clear the interview; and candidates who perform moderately well in the written examinations can outdo top rankers.
Marks, lies and videotapes
Coming back to the controversy, Jaleel said Chennithala was raking up a non-existing issue over grace marks with an eye on the byelection. Yet, a new video has surfaced which showed Jaleel’s private secretary Dr Sharafuddeen participating in an adalat of MG University in Kottayam in February.
The adalat considered a petition of a BTech student of a self-financing college in Kothamangalam seeking grace marks for the supplementary examination of the sixth semester.
Earlier, Jaleel had claimed that his secretary returned after attending the inaugural function of the adalat and did not sit through the proceedings. But the video showed Sharafuddeen consulting with various university officials and higher education secretary, proving that he was there till the end of the adalat. Jaleel dismissed it saying the video was always available on the university’s website. Chennithala claimed the decision to give five grace marks was taken at the adalat, and the decision was ratified by the university’s syndicate after it became a controversy.
The Congress leader also said Sharafuddeen signed the minutes of the adalat.
Jaleel told reporters in Kasaragod that Sharafuddeen did not sign any documents related to the adalat.
He said the syndicate’s decision to give moderation marks up to five helped not just one student as claimed by Chennithala, but helped around 150 engineering students clear the examination. “The minister or the staff played no role in that,” he said. He said this was not the first time a university had given ‘moderation marks’ to help students on the cusp of minimum marks to clear examinations. “When the UDF was running the government, Calicut University decided to give 20 marks in moderation,” he said.
The leader of opposition was running a misleading campaign with the hope of winning the byelection. That will not work and the LDF would win in all the five constituencies, he said. Jaleel said if Chennithala was against grace marks, he could make that demand, and the government would take it up for discussion. “But to call grace marks as marks donation is being derisive of the process,” he said.
Ahead of the MG University controversy, Jaleel was in another storm after he allegedly intervened during an adalat and ordered APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University to re-evaluate a paper of the student for the second time. The student of TKM College of Engineering in Kollam got pass-mark in the subject and managed to avoid supplementary examination after the second re-evaluation.
‘Only exam pass board decides on moderation’
On giving grace marks, the academics say only the examination pass board — constituted by vice-chancellor — can decide on giving moderation marks. “That too, before the results are declared,” said Abdul Khader Mangad, former vice-chancellor, Kannur University. “Once the results are out, the
only option before students is to go for re-evaluation,” he said. A student can seek re-evaluation twice.