A day after Mahatma Gandhi University clarified its position on the alleged illegal awarding of special moderation to a B.Tech. student, the controversy raged further on Monday with the emergence of a Right to Information (RTI) document that pointed to serious lapses on the part of the university.
As per the document, the university had decided to award special moderation to the student during the grievance redressal adalat held on February 22, contrary to the clarifications given by Education Minister K.T. Jaleel and Vice Chancellor Sabu Thomas.
Official sources said the varsity Syndicate had earlier considered an application from the student, which sought to award her one mark for one subject in the sixth semester. Considering the request during a meeting held on the previous day of the adalat, Syndicate member Tomichan Joseph recommended to the Vice Chancellor to give one mark to the student.
Though the proposal received a nod from the Vice Chancellor, the varsity 's joint registrar turned it down citing that the student had already received grace marks in the fifth semester for volunteering with the National Service Scheme. Following this, the request was forwarded to the academic council.
Despite this, the Syndicate decided on its own to award up to five marks to all those students who failed in one subject. The order, stating the Syndicate's decision to award up to five marks as moderation additionally to the existing moderation for students who lost only one subject in any of the semesters, was issued on May 17 based on an out of agenda (OA) item of the Syndicate meeting.
According to sources, as many as 125 students have already cleared their certificates under the scheme while applications by about 84 students are still pending at the varsity. The varsity rule, they pointed out, stipulated declaration of moderation before the announcement of results to avoid any conflict of interest.
Meanwhile, it was also alleged that the student, who had submitted the application in the adalat, lived in the neighbourhood of a former Syndicate member, who was close to the private secretary of the Education Minister.
