Chennai: Amidst the ongoing debate surrounding the abolishment of NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) in Tamil Nadu, the DMK government’s stance has attracted attention following a recent scandal involving cash for marks in the state’s Class 12 public examinations. While the DMK has been vocal about the irregularities in NEET centers in Bihar and Gujarat, it has remained silent on its own examination scam.
In a significant development, the CB-CID (Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department) team arrested nine individuals, including four government employees, in Madurai on 25th July 2024, in connection with an alleged large-scale scam related to the alteration of answer sheets during the 2023 board exams. The arrests shed light on the manipulation of answer sheets for two Class 12 students in three subjects.
Among those arrested were superintendent Rama Prabakaran and junior assistant Kannan from the Madurai District Education Officer (Elementary) office, government schoolteacher Paramasivan from Melur, and lab assistant Karthick Raja from Kottampatti government school. Additionally, the parents of the implicated students and one of the students themselves were also taken into custody. Authorities are currently searching for the second student, who is currently evading capture. Both students studied at a private school in Madurai city.
The malpractice came to the attention of exam officials in 2023 when they noticed similarities in the handwriting across the answer sheets of the two students during a meticulous examination. Subsequent investigations revealed that the same handwriting was present in answer sheets for mathematics, physics, and chemistry.
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Following the discovery, the school education department issued memos to the students, outlining the potential consequences of their involvement in the malpractice, including a possible five-year ban. Moreover, their mark sheets were withheld. Initially, the students maintained the authenticity of their answer sheets but later recanted their statements.
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has been approached by a concerned parent seeking justice for his son. The parent filed a petition to quash a memo issued by the school education department, demanding the issuance of his son’s mark sheet. The court, in response, directed the Tallakulam police to register a formal case based on a complaint from the joint director (higher secondary). Subsequently, the case was transferred to the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) in November 2023. Another parent filed a similar petition, but the court dismissed it.
As the investigation unfolded, the police made startling discoveries. It was revealed that government employees Kannan and Prabakaran, with assistance from Paramasivan and Karthick Raja, had engaged in a sinister act of replacing answer sheets in exchange for a hefty payment of Rs1 lakh per paper. Handwriting analysis conducted during the investigation unveiled that one of the four government staff members’ handwriting matched the writing on the manipulated answer sheets. Sources have confirmed that the answer sheets have been sent for further analysis, providing key evidence in the case.
This incident is not the first of its kind in the education sector in Tamil Nadu. In August 2018, the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) had filed a First Information Report (FIR) against ten academicians for their alleged involvement in an answer paper scam at Anna University, which occurred in August 2017. The DVAC had conducted surprise checks and uncovered evidence of the scam, which involved accepting bribes from students in exchange for manipulating their answer papers during revaluation. Termed as “paper chasing,” agents were found to be receiving money from students to locate their answer sheets and alter them to secure higher scores. As a consequence, the then Controller of Examinations, GV Uma, and 38 other employees were suspended.
The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on December 14, 2021, transferred the investigation into the TNPSC Group IV-2019 exam scam to the CBI. In the TNPSC Group-IV examination held in September 2019, 99 candidates from Rameswaram and Keelakarai exam centres in Ramanathapuram district reportedly used pens having ‘vanishing ink’ to mark their answers in the OMR sheet.Later, some persons, allegedly with the help of two TNPSC staff, tampered with the answer sheets when they were being transported to Chennai in a van, and filled the correct answers on the sheets. The CB-CID investigated the scam and arrested 118 persons.
In another incident, TN School education department found that teachers have committed several errors while correcting them. it said “ several thousand students from Class 10,11 and 12 who appeared for board exams or public examinations applied for revaluations last year (2018). During the scrutiny, it was found that many teachers committed several mistakes while correcting the answer papers. They did not give required marks for right answers and there were mistakes in totalling. They did it carelessly forgetting their action would affect the future of lakhs of students.
The State Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu on June 28 unanimously passed a resolution urging the Union government to “immediately approve of T.N.’s NEET exemption bill” and “make necessary amendments to the National Medical Commission Act” in order to abolish NEET at the national level. The development comes at a time when alleged irregularities over this year’s NEET medical entrance test have kicked up massive protests of opposition parties and students organisations across India.
The opposition to #NEET from Tamil Nadu now resonates across India.
Today, the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a resolution urging the Union government to abolish NEET and allow states to conduct medical admissions based on class 12 marks, following the… pic.twitter.com/9CfjQthwLN
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) June 28, 2024
Now BJP and its allies have asked, will the Chief Minister Stalin led DMK government TN government ban the 12th exam like NEET as they are demanding central Govt ? Also abolish TNPSC examinations to recruit staff for government and select them based on their school, college marks? Will it also done away with TET and other examinations? It wants abolition of NEET as politicians are running the medical colleges in the state and the NEET prevents them (colleges) from making money through capitation and other modes. There is alleged commission to leading politicians every year or seats of quota which they can sell it to needy and earn black money”.
The Supreme Court on July 23 has rejected petitions seeking cancellation of the contentious NEET-UG 2024 medical entrance exam saying there is no material at the present stage to indicate a systemic leak of the question paper which could disrupt the sanctity of the examination. It also said no re-examination.
