Hyderabad: A major question paper scandal has rocked the Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU). An exam has been cancelled after its question paper was circulated on WhatsApp.
The question paper was set for third year students appearing for the first semester exams. The university has cancelled the admissions of 35 in-service students, suspended one senior official and three staff members, and ordered a detailed cybercrime investigation.
University takes swift action
Acting on the findings, the Registrar issued suspension orders against a senior official and three employees on Thursday night.
The university also annulled the admissions of 35 in-service candidates who had joined the BSc (Agriculture) course three years ago under the in-service quota.
All the affected candidates, currently working as Agricultural Extension Officers, have been sent back to the Agriculture Department and blacklisted from seeking future admissions under the in-service quota.
Unusual marks lead to probe
The paper leak came to light after Vice-Chancellor Aldas Janayya recently visited the Jagityal Agricultural College and scrutinised the mark sheets of the latest semester examinations.
He noticed that many in-service students secured above 90 marks in the Pathology subject. Academics pointed out that Pathology is considered one of the toughest subjects, where even top-performing students rarely score beyond 60 per cent. The unusually high marks raised a strong suspicion.
CCTV footage uncovers scam
Suspicious, Janayya ordered inspection of the CCTV footage which revealed that a student completed the exam in 10 minutes and was idle for the rest of the duration. Upon being questioned, the in service student revealed that the paper was leaked on WhatsApp from Warangal.
AI-based pens
The student further revealed that candidates used AI-based pens, which had the answers to all 40 objective questions. The invigilators were unable to detect cheating.
Major scam uncovered
Following the initial investigation, the Vice Chancellor constituted a three-member inquiry committee which found an organised racket at the heart of the scam . It found that a senior official and an employee from Warangal Agricultural College had colluded to leak question papers of six examinations.
The accused reportedly circulated the papers through WhatsApp groups and collected between Rs 10,000 and Rs 20,000 from each candidate. In total, 35 in-service students studying in various agricultural colleges across the state received the leaked papers.
Cybercrime probe ordered
Calling the malpractice grave, the Vice Chancellor ordered a cybercrime probe into the paper leak. The probe will also examine lapses in question paper security and the conduct of examinations across the university.
The scandal has raised serious concerns over exam integrity and the growing misuse of advanced technology in higher education assessments.
Harish Rao reacts
Bharat Rahstra Samithi (BRS) MLA T Harish Rao on Friday, January 9 slammed Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy over paper leaks in Telangana. Rao alleged that Congress’s incompetence inefficiency, and corruption has led to paper leaks in the state. The former Telangana minister also accused the Congress of being incapable of securing the future of students.
He cited the latest question paper leak at Prof Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University as an example of the government’s inability to conduct fair exams. The Siddipet MLA demanded strict action against those involved in the paper leak.
Rao urged the government to prevent such incidents in the future and to maintai the integrity of competitive exams.
In a statement, the BRS MLA said that Telangana was yet to recover from the PG medical entrance exam scam, and now another modern scam at agricultural university where BSc Agriculture question papers were leaked via WhatsApp, coming as an utter shock for students across Telangana.
The BRS leader said educational institutions under the Congress regime have turned into centres of corruption, with Revanth Reddy repeatedly proving that nothing is unworthy of a scam. He said the government has failed both in issuing job notifications and in conducting academic examinations, which was a classic Revanth Reddy-mark failure.
