Date:01/05/2006 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/05/01/stories/2006050100200800.htm

Back Paper-chasing

I gotta gets the money, gotta gets the money, cause I needs the cash cash, cmon

You know I needs the money, gotta gets the money, cause I needs the cash cash!

The racket of "paper chasing" through which by some employees of the Madras University were minting money filled the news last week, thanks to a sting operation by a TV channel. Since the nature of the evil eluded me, I rushed to Google. Most entries listed on my PC were about an apparently popular lyric of that name. From the first two lines quoted above, you will see how delectably they fit the motive and purpose of those caught red-handed on the camera.

It was shocking to know that "paper chasing" is a widespread practice in most higher educational institutions. It works as follows: The identities of students writing University examinations are to be kept secret from those valuing their answer papers to guard against a corrupt nexus being established and the students being given undeservingly high marks.

In "paper chasing", some employees and the valuers, in collusion, give the students approaching them a numerical-cum-alphabetical code to be inscribed on the answer papers with the help of which their passage is tracked to the valuers who, then, award the desired marks for a pre-arranged consideration. The touts in the exposed case have given out the tariff as Rs 1,500, Rs 2,500 and Rs 5,000 per paper for ordinary, engineering and medical degrees respectively, a portion of which they share with the valuers.

At a time when the worth of even degrees obtained in a proper manner from many of the Indian universities is in question, it is indeed a terrifying thought that a section of doctors and engineers is of these dubious antecedents.

B. S. RAGHAVAN