Class XII results 'goof up': Telangana govt appoints panel

As parents and political parties hit the streets protesting alleged bungling in publication of intermediate exam results, the Telangana government Monday set up a committee to inquire into the handling of the process by a private IT firm roped in by it.

The three-member committee will probe among other aspects if the Globarena Technologies, which provided technological and software support to the Telangana State Board of Intermediate Education (TSBIE), carried out its functions as mandated in the agreement.

The panel to be headed by Telangana State Technological Service Managing Director T G Venkateswar Rao would also inquire whether there were any errors in publication of results on account of any systemic errors of Globarena in design implementation, a government order said.

The government announcement came on a day when the state was rocked by protests by parents, student bodies such as ABVP and Congress who alleged there were a lot of errors in the results announced on April 18.

Several students across Telangana, including the nephew of Telugu Desam Party Rajya Sabha MP C M Ramesh, reportedly committed suicide as they failed to clear the intermediate (class XII) examination.

Telangana Government Junior College Lecturers Association president Madhusudhan Reddy said at least eight students allegedly committed suicide while several others attempted to end their lives after they failed to clear the exam.

Congress in the state Monday demanded a judicial probe by a sitting judge of high court into the declaration of the TSBIE results.

Mild tension prevailed at the TSBIE office here as Congress leaders, led by state party working president Revanth Reddy, staged a flash dharna, demanding justice to students.

AICC Spokesperson Sravan Dasoju said the 'blunders' committed by the TSBIE in exam results caused serious agony to thousands and students and their parents.

He alleged that despite Globarena Technologies not fulfilling certain criteria of the tender, the TSBIE had awarded it the contract for implementing end-to-end programme for the academic year 2018-19.

"Not only the students, but their parents and entire family members are in deep distress. Several students are reported to have committed suicide due to the faulty results published by the TSBIE. Who should be held responsible for those deaths?" he asked.

He demanded that the families of such victims be paid an ex-gratia of Rs. 25 lakh each.

The parents alleged "goof up" in the paper valuation and demanded a thorough re-verification of the papers of those who had failed.

Telangana PCC chief Uttam Kumar Reddy in a letter to Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said about a dozen students committed suicide in the past four days over the alleged "mess up" in the results.

Reddy demanded that the Education Minister and officials concerned be sacked immediately and a thorough inquiry be ordered.

Some members of ABVP, student wing of BJP, also held a dharna in front of the BIE office at Nampally here.

Several leaders were taken into preventive custody, a police official said.

Madhusudhan Reddy said a high-level inquiry should be ordered and authorities should undertake retotalling and re-evaluation of answer papers of students free of cost.

According to Reddy, eleven students who scored over 900 (out of total 1,000), 125 with scores between 850 and 900 and about 2,000 who scored over 750 were declared failed in one subject which varied among students.