Gauhati University marks scam: Vice-Chancellor assures full co-operation in investigations

Prima facie an employee engaged with the Inter-University Management System, is the kingpin of the whole scam.

Reported by Arindam Das

Stung by a massive marks scam, the Gauhati University authorities have assured its full cooperation to the probe into the inflated marks racket. So far, 8 persons including the prime accused have been arrested, but involvement of more individuals are likely to surface.

Speaking exclusively to Northeast Live, Gauhati University Vice-Chancellor Pratap Jyoti Handique, informed that prima facie an employee engaged with the Integrated University Management System (IUMS), is supposed to be the kingpin of the whole scam.

Worth mentioning, the IUMS is managed by ITI Limited, a Government of India enterprise.

However, the GU VC feels that though the marks scam is presently an isolated case limited to only the Barpeta district, there must be a thorough probe into the matter.

“The matter came to my notice on June 3 itself when it was published as news items in the newspapers. I came to know that the Barpeta Police have taken over the case as a whole. Immediately we wrote a letter to the Barpeta Police stating that from our side we will extend necessary co-operation and help. We also requested them to provide the information which they get from the inquiry, so that we can also take necessary punitive action and measures in our university.

Till today it is just limited to the Barpeta District. But as students are demanding and I also feel that there must be an extensive investigation into the entire matter. A full-fledged investigation is required, so that we can assure no other such incidents takes place in the future,” Handique said.

When asked about who all might be involved in the incident, the GU VC said, “The person (main accused) is already arrested, he is an employee of the system, who is operating the Integrated University Management System (IUMS). He is an employee of the company who is looking after the IUMS, the company is known as ITI Limited, Delhi. It’s a Government of India enterprise.”

Asked under what circumstances the GU had to hand over the operations of such a sensitive branch of the examination department to an outsourced player, the VC informed, “Actually in 2017 an MoU was signed, that time it became a requirement that all Universities develop their own Inter-University Management System. For that we tied with some of the companies who have the expertise for managing all these type of system. So ITI is one of the company recognised by the GoI. THey responed to our quotations, then only the MoU was signed. It was a thorough procedure.”

VC Pratap Jyoti Handique also believes that the latest expose might just be the tip of the iceberg and hence feels the need for a deeper probe and find out if any officials of the GU administration too are involved in the scam.

He said, “For that actually we need more investigation and that is why we requested the Barpeta Police to provide us the information what they get during investigations. Probably they will inform us when they complete their investigation. A full and extensive investigation is required for that. Today also we are calling a meeting here for our university stakeholders to identify action measures for that. If someone is identified for that by the University Committee, definitely we will take necessary action.”

The GU Vice-Chancellor also appreciated CM Himanta Biswa Sarma for taking strong cognizance of the matter and said, “I thank the CM of Assam because he has shown his concern for the university and we are ready to cooperate and support all the activities related to investigation for finding out the real perpetrators.”

Asked whether the GU will conduct an independent inquiry into the matter, the VC said, “No, because they have more machinery to investigate, so I declared that we will provide full support and cooperation. Internally also we have constituted a committee to inquire about the system, what are the loopholes and how exactly we are maintaining our records. That we will definitely make a report. If required, we will submit the report to the CID as well as the police.”

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