After SC order, Raj institutes to show answer sheets under RTE

Education institutes in Rajasthan are working day and night to prepare guidelines for effective implementation of the recent Supreme Court order allowing disclosure of answer sheets under Right to Education Act 2009.

The order has highlighted the poor situation of universities and colleges, where students face problems like staff crunch and infrastructure. Rajasthan Technical University is overburdened with work. To put examination and declaration of results on track, the university is finding ways to avoid contempt of court. Source said they have made a ‘warehouse’ on campus to keep 3.5 lakh copies every year. The RTU has 144 engineering and 134 management colleges affiliated to it. "The university will require services of around 20 people for this," a senior RTU official said.

Sources said universities with staff crunch will have to dedicate a team of over 20 people to look after records and monitor copies for the stipulated time. They have decided to curtail second re-evaluation to reduce workload.
The Rajasthan University officials said they have not taken any concrete stand on this apex court ruling. They have asked departments and colleges to frame their own set of rules to govern this ruling. College like Maharani’s with strength of over 8,000 students has sought RU’s help to make the ruling functional. "The order is impractical and suits institutes with a few number of students," a RU official said.

For Central University, Rajasthan, this is not new. Vice-chancellor M M Salunkhe since the inception of the university in 2009, made the provision of showing answer sheets to students on demand without any fee. "It allows students to assess themselves," Salunkhe said. Universities and colleges with less number of students are following the footsteps of AIEEE and IITs of distributing answer sheets immediately after exams.