CU gives balnk question papers to the examinees

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, October 3, 2007

Calcutta University cancelled the economics and civics paper of its B.Ed examination because more than half of the question paper was not printed.
This is probably the first such incident in the 150 years history of the university that students were handed over incomplete question papers. The economics and civics combined paper started at 2 pm. Within five minutes students discovered that more than half the questions were missing and the pages were blank. “We were shocked to see an incomplete question paper. We informed the invigilators,” said a student after the exam was cancelled.
A chastened university admitted the error and cancelled the paper at 2.15 pm. B.Ed examination was being conducted in two halves and the life science paper went on without any hitch.
The university has already ordered an internal enquiry and if the press where the paper was published is found guilty then it will be blacklisted. Explaining why such an error happened, the controller of examination, Onkarsadhan Adhikari, said, “It was a printing error and we regret it. Though there are people responsible for proof reading the question paper, but once it is printed no one is allowed to open the seal for security reasons. Technically we cannot allow anyone to have a look at the paper before the examination starts. Hence there was no way we could have spotted the error earlier.”
The students alleged that the university has been negligent with the examination system. But the university defended itself. “We conduct 5500 types of examination every year. The number of students vary from over a lakh to a little more than fifty. But till date no such error has occurred. We admit that it is a mistake but we have ensured that no students have suffered,” said Adhikari.
He refused to divulge where the papers were sent. “It is classified information and I cannot divulge it. But we will definitely see how this error occurred and take appropriate steps so that it is not repeated. Those found guilty will not be spared,” said Adhikari.
More than 298 students were scheduled to sit for the paper but the university could not confirm the number. “Students have many combinations. It is difficult for us to know how many students had this combination,” said Debashis Biswas, deputy controller of examination of CU.
The combined economics and civics paper exam was being conducted in ten examination centres four of them were outside Kolkata. The economics and civics examination will now be conducted on October 8 from 2 pm and the venue will remain unchanged.
Mou.Chakraborty@hindustantimes.com