Students still in the dark as LU officials ‘tightlipped’
Hundreds of students wrote semester exams on answer sheets of Chatrapati Sahu Ji Maharaj University.
Even a day after its students were provided with OMR sheets of a different university during semester examinations, the University of Lucknow (LU) was yet to respond on how the oversight went unnoticed until students brought it to officials’ attention.
The incident occurred during the second shift of the second-semester exams scheduled between 11:30 am and 1 pm for BSc and BA students. Hundreds of students wrote the exams on answer sheets of Chatrapati Sahu Ji Maharaj University (CSJMU) in Kanpur.
What bothers them most now is how the faulty OMR sheets will tally with questions in the LU’s question papers. LU examination controller Vidya Nand Tripathi, meanwhile, said the faulty sheets were replaced with LU OMR sheets during the exams.
When contacted, LU spokesperson Prof Durgesh Srivatava said vice-chancellor Alok Kumar Rai had gone to Lakhimpur Kheri for a voter awareness programme. “Once he returns, we will be able to make a statement on the issue. The interest of the students will be protected,” he added.
“We are really scared and wondering how our copies will be evaluated. Since they are OMR sheets a machine will evaluate them. What will happen when the CSJMU barcode does not match the LU’s barcode?” an undergraduate student rued after writing the test on Thursday.
Also, opposition leaders have started questioning the LU’s negligence. Sadaf Jafar, All India Congress Committee communication coordinator in West Bengal, wrote on X, “Now in Uttar Pradesh, there is no examination, test or exam...it is only tampering with the future of the youth.”
Meanwhile, principals of some colleges affiliated with the LU blamed the university’s lax approach to the exam procedure for the incident.
The principal of a co-ed college with hundreds of students on-roll said, “The negligence exposed the LU examination cell’s laxity and the agency that has been hired by the university to conduct the examination. All students were asked to write the exam on CSJMU OMR sheet.”
The principal of an all-girls’ institution said, “It is a shocking incident and, surprisingly, LU officials are sheepishly tightlipped over the issue. The university should clear the doubts of students who are concerned about their future.”
