Peon, an MA in Eng, checks Hindi answer sheets at college in MP

Peon, an MA in Eng, checks Hindi answer sheets at college in MP

Amarjeet.Singh@timesofindia.com 10.04.2025

Bhopal : Twice ‘outsourced’, the evaluation of answer sheets at a govt college in Madhya Pradesh’s Narmadapuram district allegedly ended up in the hands of a peon, triggering a scandal that led to the sacking of three staffers and suspension of the principal and a professor.

The peon, who has a master’s degree in English, evaluated the Hindi paper. The multi-stage blunder happened at Shaheed Bhagat Singh PG College in Piparia a few months ago and would have gone unnoticed but for a video that surfaced recently. 

The 20-second clip shows the peon checking answer sheets with all seriousness, making tick marks and jotting down marks. After the video swirled around on social media, local MLA Thakur Das Nagwanshi raised the issue in assembly. 

The higher education department set up a probe committee, which submitted its report on April 3. The very next day, principal Rakesh Kumar Verma and the nodal officer for evalua tion, professor Ramghulam Patel, were suspended. Verma alleged that he was being targeted by local politicians. The committee found a shocking casualness in the approach to exam evaluation. In its report, the panel stated that guest lecturer Khusboo Pagare, who teaches Hindi, has admitted in a written statement that she got the answer sheets evaluated by someone else as she was unwell. 

According to committee, Pagare paid ₹7,000 to ‘booklifter’ at the college, Rakesh Kumar Mehar, to evaluate the answer sheets. Mehar, in turn, handed it to peon Pannalal Patharia and gave him ₹5,000, pocketing ₹2,000, said the suspension order of the principal and nodal officer. Pagare, Mehar and Patharia were terminated.

WENT VIRAL: The multi-stage blunder happened at Shaheed Bhagat Singh PG College in Piparia a few months ago and would have gone unnoticed but for a video that surfaced recently