Two professors at a state-run university have faced suspension following revelations from a Right to Information (RTI) response. The response disclosed that four students purportedly passed exams with a 56% grade after inserting phrases like ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and the names of Indian cricket team players into their answers, according to The Indian Express.
Dr. Vandana Singh, the vice-chancellor of Veer Bahadur Singh Purvanchal University, announced the suspension of the two teachers, Dr. Ashutosh Gupta and Dr. Vinay Verma, after the university’s examination committee determined them guilty of improper evaluation during a meeting on Wednesday.
Dr. Singh stated that disciplinary action has been initiated against the suspended professors, pending approval from the Executive Council. Furthermore, an investigation into allegations of the professors extorting money from the four first-year students is currently underway.
The issue came to light when Divyanshu Singh, a former student of the university, filed an RTI request on August 3, 2023, seeking information about certain first and second-semester D Pharma course students who were granted passing grades despite providing incorrect answers.
According to Singh, the RTI response revealed that the students had included phrases like ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and the names of cricketers such as Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya in their answers, resulting in a 56% score out of 75.
Reacting to these findings, Singh lodged a complaint with Raj Bhavan, alleging that a professor had accepted bribes to pass the students. He forwarded the complaints, along with affidavits, to Raj Bhavan, prompting an investigation and subsequent action from the LG’s office on December 21, 2023.
The university formed an inquiry committee to investigate the matter, which led to a re-evaluation by two external examiners. In this re-evaluation, the four students received zero marks. Based on the inquiry committee’s report, the vice-chancellor suspended the two implicated professors following a meeting held on Wednesday.