The examination marks racket that allegedly flourished unchecked for the past three years at the Anna University has now posed an ethical dilemma for authorities.
Senior professors, who have been on inspection committees and examination flying squads to check malpractices in self-financing engineering colleges are concerned that they would no longer have the moral locus standi to crack the whip on erring institutions.
“Soon the Anna University shall have in its fold over 500 engineering colleges from across Tamil Nadu. After the answer paper revaluation racket was exposed, some representatives of private college managements have begun mocking at our system saying the ‘pot can’t call the kettle black’ anymore,” rued a Head of Department at the Anna University’s Madras Institute of Technology campus.
“Last year, the university had ordered an inquiry against a self-financing engineering college after it came to light that a student Arun Kumar Reddy who never attended classes had mysteriously passed with high scores. An inquiry revealed that a teacher had impersonated for the boy and wrote the answers discreetly at the behest of the management.
Now, we are ashamed that a similar racket has flourished in our backyard,” a professor at the College of Engineering, Guindy said.
Meanwhile, some staff are questioning why university authorities had failed to crack the whip when they came to know about this racket. On Monday when contacted VC P Mannar Jawahar (since relinquished charge) , he said a few months ago on the basis of anonymous complaints about examination related malpractices a second-level official in the Exam Department was relieved of his post.
Nonetheless staff are questioning the decision. “Why did the administration stop after merely relieving the official and reverting him to his parent Department? Ideally, an inquiry should have been held at that time itself,” a professor said.
These are the questions that the committeeset up to probe the Express expose on the scandal would be required to Check as well.