CHENNAI: In a move not attempted by any university in the country so far, the University of Madras has started using the services of disabled students to check the practice of `answer paper chasing.'

The first batch of 20 hearing and speech-impaired children this week began giving dummy numbers to answer papers. The varsity also plans to utilise their services in the years to come.

But child and disability rights activists have questioned the rationale behind the move, as "it is likely to enhance the feeling of disability amongst the children rather than mitigate it."

To ensure anonymity

University Registrar Anne Mary Fernandez told The Hindu that the children, all aged above 15, were drawn from care-giver institutions. They were preferred as they cannot easily communicate with others and reveal the dummy numbers. They would work alongside students from community colleges. "Earlier, piece-rate workers we were using for the dummy numbering were the main conduits for paper chasing and the current practice will eliminate that problem."

The university move comes in the wake of the answer paper scam that rocked academic circles in the last week of April. University insiders were found to have fostered a paper-chasing cabal. The investigation has since been handed over to the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption. Two employees have been suspended.

`No' to temporary workers

"We are strengthening our systems to avoid such malpractices. Apart from making the dummy numbering system foolproof, we will not employ temporary workers any more in either dummy numbering centres or evaluation centres. All the dummy numbering will be done only within the university to ensure total security to answer sheets," Vice-Chancellor S.P.Thyagarajan said.

The university has completed dummy numbering and evaluation of 1,20,000 English and Tamil undergraduate answer sheets for exams conducted before May 8 and identified several papers with secret markings to facilitate chasing. The numbering and evaluation of subject answer sheets will commence soon.

Criticising the university move, Child rights activist Vidya Reddy, who runs the NGO Tulir said: "Apart from riding piggyback on the children's disability, the university is also underscoring their impairment and increasing the feeling of inadequacy. The logic that they cannot communicate is also flawed as the children can still use sign language. The fact that they are from institutions and have no family to stand up for them is also worrying."

Said Jayshree Raveendran, executive director, Ability Foundation: "This, in many ways, excuses the abominable phrase `deaf and dumb' which we are always trying to combat. It is very important for an institution which is sponsoring its resources for such work to realise that such roles are a gross insult the competencies of disabled people."

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