Exams of seven pharmacy colleges nullified over mass copying

Parvesh Sharma
Tribune News Service
Sangrur, November 23

The Technical Education and Industrial Training Department has decided to issue notice to seven pharmacy colleges in the district over mass copying in recently conducted examinations—a development that comes after The Tribune reported the incidents.

The department has also nullified the examinations and ordered criminal charges against Bareta Government Polytechnic College Navneet Walia and Section Officer Anil Kumar, who were both part of the flying squads tasked with running anti-cheating patrols during exams.

Five of the seven colleges in question are in Lehragaga—Vinayka College of Pharmacy; Vidya Sagar Paramedical College; Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Pharmacy; Lord Krishna College of Pharmacy; and Krishna College of Pharmacy—and two—the Arya Bhatta College of Pharmacy and the Modern College of Pharmacy—are in Sangrur.

“After reading the news in The Tribune, we ordered an inquiry. It was found that mass copying took place in seven pharmacy colleges in the recently concluded exams,” Anurag Verma, the principal secretary of Technical Education, told The Tribune.

“We have cancelled papers. Invigilators will be deputed from government ITIs for re-exams. CCTVs will also be installed at the examination centres,” he said, adding that government polytechnic colleges/ITIs will be the new exam centres.

The notices ask colleges to explain why their affiliations should not be cancelled over the incident.

Punjab State Technical Education and Industrial Training Board Secretary and the principal of Patiala’s Government Polytechnic College (Girls) have been asked to submit reports over the incident. Papers from the seven institutions under the radar had been sent to the Patiala institution.

Verma claimed investigators found that answers in many cases matched word for word—some to an alarming degree. The examination had been conducted online in the light of the coronavirus pandemic.

Technical Education Minister Charanjit Singh Channi warned of strict action against anyone found guilty in the investigations.