Indira Gandhi Agricultural University in Raipur has cancelled a BSc Agriculture examination after a document that closely matched the actual question paper emerged on WhatsApp before the exam.
The examination was for second year BSc Agriculture students and covered Entomology. The tests took place at 34 colleges affiliated with the university across Chhattisgarh on Thursday.
The university canceled the examination later in the day as concerns about a possible leak of question papers grew. They have also approached the police to examine how the paper reached students before the examination.
According to one university official, around 500 students appeared for the examination, while other reports have put the number of affected students up to 500. The university has decided to conduct the examination again with a fresh question paper.
The incident has worried students who studied for the examination and came for it as scheduled.
How did the question paper surface on WhatsApp?
The matter started with the publication of a document containing questions on WhatsApp before the exam.
According to university officials, the document that circulated online was not officially identified as the examination paper. But nearly 70 percent of its content matched the actual question paper used in the examination.
The examination was held from 10 am to 1 pm. The sealed question paper is usually opened at examination centres shortly before the test begins, the university said.
The university, according to reports, received information about the suspected leak before the exams, but the test went ahead as planned.
Students and student organisations also raised further concerns and university officials looked into it and they later decided to cancel the examination.
A five-member committee has been formed to investigate the incident. The university has also approached the police to determine whether the question paper was actually leaked before the examination and if so, how it reached people outside the examination system.
The police investigation will be vitally important because the university has so far not been able to establish exactly how the document was obtained.
There were protests on the university campus as well. The National Students' Union of India and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad also voiced their concerns and asked for action.
Students have questioned how a document with such a high level of similarity could circulate before the examination.
The university said it was necessary to cancel the examination for fairness for the students. Doing the test again would also ensure that students who were ill-equipped to read the circulated document would not be put at a disadvantage.
The new examination to be held after investigation
The cancelled examination will be rescheduled. The new test will take place in the first week of September, official information reported by The Indian Express.
Students will therefore have to prepare for the examination again.
For many students, the cancellation will be frustrating because they have already taken the test. But a fresh examination can be helpful for the university if there is a genuine possibility of the original paper being compromised.
The investigation will now go into the source of the document and the people who may have circulated it.
Officials also will need to look at the university’s examination security system. Question papers are usually kept under controlled conditions before an examination, so investigators will need to determine whether the document came from inside the examination system or from another source.
Also, the university has been questioned over the timing of its response. The report said a complaint about the paper was received before the examination, but the test was still taken. The authorities decided to cancel it after the similarities became clearer.
The incident has once again highlighted the problems that WhatsApp and other social media platforms can create for examination authorities.
A question paper can be shared with a large number of people in minutes. Once a document reaches a messaging group it can be forwarded repeatedly and become difficult to trace.
Thus educational institutions need to have very good security measures in place to protect examination papers and respond quickly if suspicious material is posted online.
This is not the first time an examination in Chhattisgarh has been accused of WhatsApp-related issues. In the previous year, the Chhattisgarh Board of Secondary Education cancelled a Class 12 Hindi examination after a paper leak on WhatsApp was reported and an FIR was filed.
The latest incident has also put pressure on the agriculture university to ensure that such problems don’t happen again.
For students, the most immediate worry is the new examination date. They will have to prepare for the Entomology paper again while waiting for further instructions from the university.
The university investigation and police investigation will then determine whether the document was genuinely leaked or came from another source.
Until that report is available, the incident is a paper leak, not a true case.
What is clear is that the university has cancelled the examination, ordered a probe and decided to conduct the test again.
The move will help ensure that students who have prepared truthfully, and who wish to take the examination are given an equal chance to do so.
