Madhya Pradesh Sanskrit board comes under cloud

MP Sanskrit Board has come under cloud following mass copying and leakage of question papers.

The Madhya Pradesh Sanskrit Board has come under a cloud following reports of mass copying and leakage of question papers during exams.

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Informed sources said the Board, set up in 2001 to revive Sanskrit, has become a refuge for students seeking to clear Class 10th and Class 12th exams as a 'pass' certificate from this board is considered equivalent to the Madhya Pradesh Board of Secondary Education exams.

According to published reports, the Board's deputy director Sanjay Patwa asked schools where the Class 10th and Class 12th Sanskrit exams were conducted in May to get question papers photocopied if there was a shortfall in numbers.

There have also been reports of large-scale cheating during exams in almost all the main districts of the state like Chhatarpur, Tikamgarh, Sagar, Shivpuri and Raisen as well as allegations of leakage of question papers in complicity with teachers and principals.

Following the complaints, School Education Minister Narottam Mishra constituted a committee to probe the complaints.

While Patwa denied that he had asked the principals to get the question papers prepared at the local level, he admitted he had asked them to get the papers photocopied if required.

An official of the directorate of public instruction, which governs the Board, attributed mass copying to laxity by instructors.