Bhanu P Lohumi
Shimla, May 19
The question papers of undergraduate first and second year examination in Himachal Pradesh were leaked in 20 colleges, as per a report prepared by the inquiry committee.
It said sealed question papers were “negligently” distributed as sample papers to “help students prepare for the final examination”, which were to be held from April 7. The examinations had to be canceled and were rescheduled from May 7 after the authorities got a whiff of the irregularity when a Solan college demanded a new set of question papers claiming the earlier one had got “burnt”.
“The inquiry committee came across different versions of the ‘burning’ story. It concluded that the question papers were found missing in 20 colleges. The report will be submitted to the state government for necessary action,” said Himachal Pradesh UniversityOfficiating VC Prof. SP Bansal. The papers were printed in 2020 and sent to colleges. But as the final examinations were canceled due to Covid, the colleges were asked to preserve these.
The report has blamed college staff’s “negligence” for the paper leak, causing Rs 90-lakh loss to the government. The question papers of over 200 subjects had to be reset and reprinted.