IGNOU assessment scripts lost & found in train

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, August 12, 2007
The assignment scripts of 45 B.Com third-year students of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) were found on a local train on Saturday evening at Burdwan.
Although university authorities managed to get the assignment scripts back by Sunday evening, the incident has left students fuming. Keshab Chandra Sinha, a professor of Goenka College of Commerce and also a part time faculty at IGNOU’s Maulana Azad College Centre, lost the scripts on the way back to his home at Haripal. He lodged an FIR with the GRP of Kamarkundu and also informed the IGNOU study centre.
Tushar Kanti Dutta, a businessman who boarded the train from Burdwan with his family, found the scripts on the train. “The bag was on the bench. After hesitating for some time, I decided to check it and found some scripts inside it. I got some phone numbers of the students written in the scripts and I contacted them immediately. The students informed IGNOU and they called me back and took away the answer scripts,” Dutta said.
IGNOU regional director Sujit Ghosh expressed surprise when told about the incident. “Such a thing has never happened before. We will look into the matter. The assignment scripts do not carry marks but the students’ progress is judged according to them. We also ask the students to write their phone numbers on it so that we can inform them about their performance.”
Ranabir Singh, a student, said though assignment papers do not carry marks, they are a mandatory part of course work. “If the papers got lost, probably, we would have had to write them again or would have been assigned marks on an average,” he said, quite perturbed. He alleged that when he went to the IGNOU centre on Sunday, the assistant coordinator misbehaved with him. “Mrs Dutta almost showed me the door when I went to inquire about the lost papers,” Ranabir said. He wondered how a teacher could be so careless about his students’ future.
Dilip Ghosh, coordinator of the Maulana Azad College (regional) said, “The teacher concerned told us that he had kept the scripts on the train bunk but could not find them while getting down. I am surprised that someone from Baidyabati got it. This man is requesting us to withdraw the police complaint. We are waiting for the police investigation report.”
Mou.Chakraborty@hindustantimes.com