Date:22/04/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/04/22/stories/2007042210100300.htm

Andhra Pradesh

MBBS supplementary exams from May 15

Staff Reporter

`Writing a column requires one to do the balancing act'

VIJAYAWADA: As many as 290 students of the first year MBBS under the purview of Dr. N.T.R. University of Health Sciences will have to appear for supplementary examination on May 15, following the cancellation by the university chancellor (governor) of re-counting of marks applied by them.

While more than 4,000 students belonging to 32 colleges appeared for the first year examinations in December 2006, as many 790 had failed. Of them, 598 applied for re-counting and 290 were declared pass.

Criticism

As it was first time in the history of the university that such a high number of students were declared pass in re-counting, it led to all-round criticism, forcing the officials to draw the attention of the Government to it.

Vice-Chancellor R. Sambasiva Rao said on Saturday that the supplementary examinations were being conducted after a considerable delay of more than a month, as they were supposed to be conducted by April 10.

The State Government had taken 50 days to authorise the university to constitute an inquiry committee to probe the suspected `irregularities' in the recounting process, after the university's executive council sent a report to the Government on the same. The executive council also sought the Advocate General's advice. The AG suggested to the university to send a report to the chancellor. The cancellation of recounting was done without constituting any other inquiry committee.

B. Vijay Kumar, a first year student of the Siddhartha Medical College, alleged that the university officials were playing with the future of the students.

He said the officials were trying to hush up the matter and conducting the examinations within a short notice. "We're clueless as to what to do, as we attended the second year classes for two months. We're planning to move the court," he said.