Students who never enrolled in MKU got mark sheets: DVAC 

Sanjana Ganesh 
 
MADURAI, July 01, 2019 00:00 IST 

  It suspects that Rs. 1 lakh was taken as bribe for each mark sheet and provisional certificate

Bogus mark sheets and provisional certificates were given to 500 students, who never enrolled in Madurai Kamaraj University’s Directorate of Distance Education centres, a preliminary probe by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption (DVAC) has revealed.

The examination scam, according to the DVAC, allegedly happened with the connivance of M. Rajarajan, Additional Controller of Examinations, DDE, MKU, R. Sathiyamoorthi, Superintendent, Electronic Data Processing Section, DDE, and J. Karthigai Selvan, Computer Programmer, EDP section.

In a recent letter to the university, the DVAC said that records were forged in a backdated manner to show as if candidates had registered for the course in the academic and calendar years of 2014 and 2015. However, they had neither joined the course nor appeared for any examination.

According to the DVAC, majority of students admitted that they had not paid registration fee or tuition fee to the university for their courses. Some Demand Drafts in the university records, as evidence of payment of fees by these students, were found to be fake.

In the records of these students, details such as parent name, phone number, address and photos were not available. Instead, only names of candidates were mentioned. Majority of the candidates were shown as if they got admitted to the course on the last date to submit application.

For instance, while a total of 321 students registered for the B. Com. course prior to the last day for admission on December 31, 2013 for the academic year 2014, 253 students were shown as registered on the last day without details like photographs and address, according to the DVAC.

A special syndicate meeting of MKU on Wednesday gave nod to the DVAC to conduct a preliminary enquiry into the matter.

The initial enquiries by DVAC revealed that the candidates who were issued fake certificates were mainly from four centres partnering with MKU - Future Institute of Technology, Karunagappally, AIECT Distance Education Campus, Malapuram, SIMS (Saga Institute of Management Studies), Malapuram and Sarovaram College of Higher Studies, Thrissur. The DVAC said that it would conduct investigation at these centres.

The agency has expressed suspicion that Rs. 1 lakh was taken as bribe for the issue of each consolidated mark sheet and provisional certificate.

The usual procedure demands the receipt of a course completion certificate as a prerequisite in order to receive the provisional certificate and the consolidated mark statement. However, most candidates whose documents were fabricated bypassed the process of procuring the provisional certificate and directly received the other two documents.

When contacted, Mr. Rajarajan said that he was not in-charge of admitting candidates into courses or issuing of mark sheets. “We have never issued mark sheets if candidates did not present course completion certificates,” he said and denied any such charge.

Commenting on the issue, R. Murali, coordinator of the ‘Save Higher Education Movement,’ said that the arraigned officials should not be vested with any role in the DDE until the investigation is completed so as to prevent tampering of records.

High court judge does self-assessment, releases report card

Srikkanth.D@timesgroup.com

Chennai:1.7.2019

In a positive step towards judicial accountability, Justice G R Swaminathan of the Madras high court has come out with a performance card with details of the number of cases he has disposed in his past two years as a judge.

“I believe in judicial accountability,” Justice Swaminathan said in a letter dated June 27, addressed to members of the bar.

Justice Swaminathan, who took oath on June 28, 2017, at the Madurai bench of the Madras high court and has been serving there ever since has disposed of a total of 21,478 cases, of which 18,944 cases were disposed while on a single bench and 2,534 while on a division bench.

Apologizing to counsel and litigants for not being able to dispose almost 75 cases which he had reserved, Justice Swaminathan said he shall dictate all judgments in open court to avoid such a situation.

“I have introspected and I wonder if things could have been a little different and far better. My conscience says ‘Yes’. I have been impatient, sometimes even rude. I hope to put on better behaviour henceforth,” Justice Swaminathan said and added that he was more bent on disposal and hence could not afford to write long orders.

Stating that he has great expectations from members of the bar, Justice Swaminathan said he can write a good judgment only if the advocacy is good and cited some of his recent judgments that received widespread attention. In April this year, Justice Swaminathan held that the term ‘bride’ found in the Hindu Marriage Act would also mean a transgender and directed the authorities to register a marriage between a man and a transwoman after the registration department cited the act and said ‘bride’ can only refer to a 'woman on her wedding day'.

He had also directed the Tamil Nadu government to issue a GO banning sex reassignment surgeries on infants and children.

Earlier, this month, Justice Swaminathan passed an order recognizing the rights of asylum seekers (65 Indian origin Tamil refugees) to apply for Indian citizenship.

“Bad advocacy will breed only bad judgment. I am critically dependent on you,” Justice Swaminathan said expressing happiness at the conduct of counsel so far and sought suggestions from members of the bar to serve the institution and cause of justice better.

Justice Swaminathan’s gesture received a positive response from lawyers, said Madurai-based advocate K.Samidurai, secretary, Indian Association of lawyers (TN Chapter). This is the first time in the more than 15-year existence of the Madurai bench that a judge had come forward with a performance report, he said.

“Appeal to the bar is an innovative step. Pendency can be reduced by proactive measures like this,” Samidurai said. 



I have introspected and I wonder if things could have been a little different and far better... I have been impatient, sometimes even rude. I hope to put on better behaviour henceforth

JUSTICE G R SWAMINATHAN
High court judge

Stick to UGC norms in appointment: HC

Madurai:1.7.2019

The Madurai bench of the Madras high court directed the authorities concerned to follow the UGC regulations in appointing assistant professors at government colleges in the state.

A batch of petitioners moved the court to direct the authorities to strictly comply with the UGC in Minimum Standards and Procedure for Awards of MPhil and PhD Degree Regulation, 2009, pertaining to the eligibility criteria for appointment of assistant professors at government colleges.

Justice S M Subramaniam observed that the court is of the opinion that the grievance expressed by the petitioners are undoubtedly a concern and the minimum standards of educational qualifications and other criteria fixed by UGC are to be followed scrupulously.

The judge observed that the nature of degrees, the mode of undergoing the UG and the PG courses are also to be verified before appointing candidates. If any post graduate or other degrees are obtained through open university, then those with such degrees, which are not prescribed under UGC, are not eligible for appointment.

“A teacher must know classroom craft and they must have the experience of witnessing the art of teaching. Thus, the candidates who studied and possess the requisite educational qualifications through regular pattern of education in college alone are to be selected and appointed for the post of assistant professors,” observed the judge. The judge also stated that all those officials responsible for not implementing the UGC regulations are to be punished by initiating disciplinary proceedings. TNN

UGC warns univs against caste discrimination complaints
Action Taken Report To Be Sent Within A Month

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:1.7.2019

As the number of suicide cases reported from institutions due to caste-based discrimination is on the rise, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has directed all universities to direct their employees to be more sensitive while dealing with incidents of caste discrimination.

In a circular to all the vicechancellors of universities, Rajnish Jain, secretary of UGC, has urged the officials and faculty members to desist from any act of discrimination students on grounds of their social origin.

He further directed higher educational institutions to develop a separate page on their websites for lodging such complaints of caste discrimination by SC/ST students and also a complaint register in the office of the principal or registrar. “If any such incident comes to the notice of the authorities, action should be taken against the erring official or faculty members promptly,” the circular said.

The universities and colleges are also directed to constitute a committee to look into the discrimination complaints received from SC/ST/ OBC students, teachers and other staff. It also urged the varsities to send action taken reports within 30 days.

Many professors said caste-based discrimination is still existing on many higher education campuses and welcome the move by the UGC.

“We welcome the move by the UGC as many staff members and students are facing such discrimination even now. The faculty members from particular group are being victimized by the dominant caste groups on the campuses,” said N Pasupathy, president of Association of University Teachers. He also urged the commission to put checks and balances to prevent any possible misuse by the vested interests.

Colleges to develop a separate page on their websites for lodging such complaints

Engg list out, med pending, students in fix

State Medical Rank List Deferred, MBBS Aspirants Have Little Choice

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:1.7.2019

The Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions committee announced on Sunday that the online admission process for engineering in the state will begin on July 3, leaving medical aspirants in a fix as the state medical committee, which was supposed to release the rank list on Tuesday, said the list will not be out till July 4.

Payments for engineering admissions have to be made between July 3 and July 10. Candidates can select their college of choice from July 8 to 10, and they will be given a tentative allotment on July 11.

Students from rank 1 to 9,872 will participate in the first round. A total of 1,01,692 candidates will participate in the counselling for more than 1.5 lakh seats, so the struggle will be for the best colleges. Counselling will be held in four rounds.

Engineering students in the first round get another two days to lock their choices and the final allotment order will be released on July 13.

Likewise, three more rounds will be held before the counselling concludes on July 28. “General category students have to pay ₹5,000 and students from SC, SC(A) and ST category have to pay ₹1,000. The amount will be deducted from their tuition fees,” said TNEA secretary T Purusothaman.

“Hundreds of students who have secured high scores in NEET may end up paying for the engineering counselling as a backup option because they don’t yet know if they stand a chance of getting admissions in medical colleges. They will also be blocking seats in good colleges for meritorious candidates wanting to study engineering,” said R Satheesh, who coaches students for competitive exams.

On Monday, the results of the all-India quota medical admissions will be released by the Directorate General of Health Services.

Students will be given time till July 6 to join the colleges or apply for an upgrade. “We will be releasing our rank list on July 4 because we wanted to schedule it close to the end of round 1,” said selection committee secretary Dr G Selvarajan.

Several parents and students across the state are apprehensive and said they were in the dark about medical admissions.

Students use their rank and the number of undergraduate medical seats available to calculate which college they may land, if they opt for seats for online counselling through the all-India quota or offline counselling for the state quota.

While some states have already released rank lists, Tamil Nadu has not managed to the release the provisional rank list too ahead of the counselling.

“Delaying it further will adversely affect students,” said Senthil N, father of an aspiring medical student. 

NAT’L DOCTORS’ DAY

Guv to felicitate outstanding docs

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:1.7.2019

State governor Banwarilal Purohit will give awards to more than 10 doctors at a function organised by the Tamil Nadu Medical Council on National Doctors’ Day on July 1.

The list of awardees include obstetrics and gynaecologist Dr T Radha Bai Prabhu, paediatrician Dr Chitra Ayyappan, neurologist Dr R Lakhsmi Narasimhan, physician Dr P S Nagendran, surgical gastroenterologist and liver transplant surgeon Dr Jaswanth S, plastic surgeon Dr Ramadevi, orthopedician

Dr R Sivakumar, ENT, head and neck surgeon Dr C N Raja, TN consultant Dr Capt M Kamatchi and surgeon Dr Chinnadurai Abdullah.

Medical council president Dr K Senthil said a panel of doctors went through profiles of all nominees and selected the winners based on the contributions they have made. “One of them has done the first hand transplant,” he said.

DOCTORS’ DAY

For 90-plus docs, age is just a number

Pushpa.Narayan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:1.7.2019

For nearly seven decades, Dr M Natarajan has been listening to patients, not lab reports. The 94-year-old dermatologist is one of the oldest medical practitioners listed in the Tamil Nadu Medical Council registry and he continues to see patients every day between 10am and1.30pm at his clinic in Kilpauk.

“The medicine I practice is man-toman and soul-to-soul. I talk to my patients and do a thorough examination. I trust my stethoscope and my intuitions more than any other instrument,” said Dr Natarajan. The doctor who graduated from the Madras Medical College in 1947 joined medical service in the same college. A few years later, he travelled to London to do his post-graduation. He continued to work in the government sector after returning with a degree. “I don’t do cosmetology because I am not trained in it. I tell my patients that. But I have kept up with advances in medical sciences. I even do tele-consultations as follow-up for many of my patients who live abroad,” he said.

A few kilometres away, 93-year-old Dr V L Rangan, an ENT specialist, says he sees anywhere between 30 and 50 patients between 9.30am and 1.30pm. “Most of my patients come to me because I prescribe medicine only for the disease I diagnose. I believe it’s not worth it to make your patients invest on a broad spectrum of drugs just because you can’t make the diagnosis right,” he said.

Until some years ago, most patients did not raise their voice against doctors or even go for a second opinion because they never doubted their doctors. Doctors’ profession was considered noble and violence against a doctor or hospital was never heard of. “Things have changed,” Dr Rangan said. Cases of violence against doctors have increased and many states have a special legislation to protect doctors and hospitals.

That’s one of the reasons why, the state’s oldest doctor, Salem-based Dr A J Arunagiri, 99, hung up his boots in April this year. In 2018, Tamil Nadu Medical Council had asked doctors over the age of 70 to update their credentials by March 31. Dr Arunagiri sent his credentials and prefered to remain on the active medical list. “But he has a small clinic and he may not be able to fulfil the new norms mandated by the clinical establishments act. So, he has decided not to practice,” said his daughter Jayanthi Visanathan.

He continues to meet some of his patients and medical representatives, reads medical journals and sometimes offers expert opinion.

The oldest doctors in Tamil Nadu trust their instincts, are sure of their diagnoses and don’t prescribe a battery of tests and medicines