University of Health Sciences Rohtak to introduce digital marking system

Pt BD Sharma University of Health Sciences Rohtak (UHSR) has decided to implement a digital marking system for the annual and supplementary examinations of the MBBS course being run by various government and private colleges affiliated with the university across the state.

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According to sources, this decision comes in the wake of the recent MBBS exam scam at UHSR, in which answer sheets were smuggled out of the university, allowing students to re-attempt them before submitting them again with the intent to pass through unfair means. Answer sheets of many MBBS students from a private college were found 'tampered with' under this scam.

“The introduction of the digital marking system is aimed at preventing the possibility of tampering with answer sheets and speeding up the evaluation process to ensure timely declaration of results. A tender has been floated to hire a private agency to design the digital software and to implement the system efficiently,” said Dr HK Aggarwal, Vice-Chancellor of UHSR.

He said the private agency would be responsible for scanning all answer sheets from both annual and supplementary exams of the MBBS course. These scanned answer sheets would then be sent digitally to the evaluators for marking.

“The software will be designed in such a way that evaluators can easily check the answer sheets digitally. After marking, they will send the answer sheets back to the university through the software, which will also record the time of every action taken with the answer sheets. This system will help not only in keeping track of the evaluation process but also in identifying and addressing any issues that may arise,” Dr Aggarwal said.

The VC claimed that with the implementation of the digital marking system, the UHSR would become the first government university in Haryana to adopt such a system for its examination papers. “Currently, there is an on-the-spot marking system in place at the university for evaluating the MBBS answer sheets. The sheets are not sent to the evaluators; instead, they come to the university to carry out the marking. This process is conducted under the surveillance of CCTV cameras,” he added.

Dr Aggarwal emphasised his commitment to plugging loopholes, if any, in the examination system and implementing necessary reforms to strengthen it. “All outsourced employees have been moved from the examination branch to other departments within the university, and several other measures have been taken to ensure the confidentiality of the examination process," he said.

As many as 41 persons, including 17 UHSR employees and 24 students of a private college, were booked in connection with the MBBS exam scam on February 15. Three of the employees have been arrested while the police investigation into the scam is still underway.