The prominent Delhi University is again in headlines for the negative reasons. Where on one hand there is political fights, student’s robbery cases are going on another thing came in headlines. An RTI affirmed that DU has collected ₹3 crores as fee from revaluation and rechecking between the year of 2015-16 and 2017-18. Students are bound to pay ₹1,000 for revaluation and ₹750 for rechecking (only totaling of the marks will be done again) and same for receiving a copy of answer sheet as per the university guidelines. According to the information provided by\ the University, they earned ₹2,89,12,310 for revaluation alone between 2015-16 and 2017-18. During the same duration, they earned ₹23,29,500 for rechecking and ₹6,49,500 for providing students copy of their answer sheets.

The information was revealed in an RTI filed by a former DU student in law program. He said,” I had filed an RTI seeking inspection of my answer-script in 2016. My plea dragged on for two years and I had to take recourse to the CIC (Central Information Commission), which ordered the university to let me inspect the answer-script as per RTI’s Section 2(j)”.

The RTI’s section 2(j) states that a person can access records kept under any public authority for, among other purposes, “inspection…. taking notes, extracts”. “The university is yet to allow me the inspection of my answer-script. It has said it will pursue the matter further at the high court,” the former law student told IANS.

The student further added,”This is a grave issue of public interest. Not every one is
rich enough to spend Rs 1,000 or Rs 750 for revaluation. Also logically, if variation is found, the university should be duty-bound to correct it without cost… They (university administration) are making students pay for the mistakes they made”.

The Central Information Commission (CIC) ordered DU in it’s 18 august decision that the applicant should be allowed to inspect his answer sheet copy in “larger public
interest”. “Hence allowing inspection of their own answer sheets to the students ought to be allowed as per the provision of the RTI Act, 2005,” the Commission said, adding that
the applicant be allowed the inspection of his answer-sheets within 15 days of this
letter.

Even after the order of CIC the student was not allowed to inspect his answer sheet and then he approached University’s Public Information Officer through another RTI , who told him that Examination Branch has decided to challenge the verdict.

The university before CIC argued that allowing the inspection of answer sheets as per the RTI act provision “would render their existing mechanism of providing hard copies… redundant”. “The Respondent…apprehended that allowing inspection of files would render their own mechanism of providing certified copy of answer-scripts as per the fee prescribed in their regulations as meaningless, since the candidates would certainly opt for inspection as per…RTI Act, 2005,” the CIC noted in its verdict.

Why should a student pay for the correction of mistakes done by University . They should check answer sheets carefully as they might decide thr future of many students. And if the university can show copy of answer sheets, why do they have problem in showing original answer sheet? What do you think might be the reason behind this?

Tell us in the comments section.