The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : University to post exam details on web site

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Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

University to post exam details on web site

Staff Reporter

Vice-Chancellor denies charges of nepotism in preparation of rank list

Exams held in 2005 for appointment as university assistant
Bid to tarnish university’s image alleged

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The University of Kerala will publish data relating to the examinations for appointment as university assistant, held in 2005, as part of its efforts to counter reports in a section of the media that there was widespread nepotism and favouritism in the preparation of the rank list for these examinations.

The university, on June 3, will post on its web site details scanned from the OMR answer sheets of the candidates, the marks scored in the examinations by each candidate and the answer key to the written examinations, Vice-Chancellor M.K. Ramachandran Nair said at a press conference here on Friday.

He said the conduct of the examinations, the interviews, the preparation of the rank list and the subsequent appointments were done by the book and as such there was no scope whatsoever of anyone “inserting” any candidate in the rank list. The university was prepared to face any inquiry by a competent body on the issue, he said.

A section of the media had alleged that a large number of Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) sympathisers/those related to CPI(M) activists had found a place in the list. There were also allegations that someone living near Mr. Ramachandran’s house had also received appointment. “One, it is not stated anywhere that a person living near my house should not get a job here. The moot point for the media to prove is whether any person with so-called connections has been appointment in an underhand manner. Neither the media nor those who raise these allegations have been able to prove this. It is not enough to write that somebody came to the university and that a top official asked for bribe. If names are given with evidence, then the university is itself prepared to initiate an inquiry,” he said.

The university, in the process of selecting university assistants, did not gauge or rank anyone based on his/her political views. On the other hand, the varsity could not deny anyone a job because he was a Marxist, he said.

Of the 37,939 candidates who wrote the examinations, 2,114 were short-listed for the interview. Of these, 1,403 candidates appeared for the interview and the list of selected persons was published on April 8. Members of the committee that conducted the interview came to know of the marks scored by a candidate in the written examination only after the final rank list was prepared, he said. The answer sheets were being kept at the evaluation centre till the interview was over only on account of the necessity to maintain secrecy. The university had asked the evaluating agency to carry out a computerised evaluation of the answer sheets and send the results to the varsity in a sealed envelope. The allegations being raised in a section of the media were baseless and part of a conspiracy to tarnish the image of the university and impede its smooth functioning, Mr. Ramachandran said.

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