What was expected to be a routine university examination turned into a scene of confusion at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar College, Deekshabhoomi, on Saturday after BA Mass Communication Semester IV (NEP) students arrived for their ‘Political Communication’ paper, but college authorities claimed they had not received prior information from Nagpur University (NU) about the examination.
According to the centre in-charge, the university’s attendance sheet reflected zero students for the paper until Friday evening, leaving the examination centre unaware that the exam was scheduled. Officials said the revised attendance list was received only minutes before the 9.30am examination, leaving very little time for preparations.
Centre authorities said that attendance records and seating details should ideally be shared at least 24 hours in advance to ensure proper arrangements, including preparation of examination halls, printing of question papers, and basic facilities such as coolers and drinking water.
Officials admitted that the situation could have become more chaotic had a larger number of students turned up. Since only around 40 students appeared for the paper, the issue was managed without major disruption. They further pointed out that hall tickets were issued barely a day before the exam and allegedly contained errors, including the absence of any mention of Saturday’s paper.
“We verified the students’ names against the attendance sheets received in the morning, which confirmed the Political Communication paper. After cross-checking with their college authorities, we allowed them to appear for the examination. The discrepancies in the hall tickets can be corrected later,” an official said.
However, officials from NU’s examination section denied receiving any complaints regarding missing attendance sheets. They also noted that the same centre had earlier reported issues involving BSc Data Science students, who were mistakenly allotted to Dr Ambedkar College instead of a nearby management institute.
Despite the confusion, the examination eventually commenced after a delay of around five minutes, which was later compensated.
In a separate incident, a sixth-semester BA LLB student complained about poor infrastructure at the centre, alleging inadequate ventilation and the absence of cooling facilities. “There is no proper ventilation, and the coolers were not available,” the student alleged.
Responding to the complaint, centre authorities acknowledged the issue but said an alternative air-conditioned room had been offered to the student. “The fan in the allotted room was under repair. The student repeatedly asked about coolers and cold drinking water. We offered another room, but he chose to remain in the same one,” officials said.
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