Four Agri Varsity Staff Suspended For Exam Irregularities

Hyderabad: Four staff members, including a senior official, were suspended at Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University following irregularities detected in a recent examination conducted for undergraduate students.

The action followed an internal review of the first-semester examination results of third-year Bachelor of Science (agriculture) students. During the review, university authorities noticed unusually high marks in pathology, a subject considered among the most difficult in the course.

Vice-Chancellor Aldas Janayya ordered scrutiny of the mark sheets after several in-service students secured over 90 marks. Academics have reportedly pointed out that such scores are rare even among top-performing students, raising concerns over the conduct of the examination.

Further checks, including review of closed CCTV footage from exam centres, revealed irregular patterns. In one instance, a student was found to have completed the paper within a short time and remained idle for the rest of the exam duration. On questioning, the student disclosed that the question paper had been circulated through WhatsApp.

Subsequent inquiry found that candidates had used AI-enabled pens containing preloaded answers to all 40 objective questions, which went undetected by invigilators.

Based on these findings, the university cancelled the admissions of 35 in-service students who had joined the BSc (Agri) programme under the in-service quota three years ago. The candidates, currently working as agricultural extension officers, were sent back to the agriculture department and barred from future admissions under the quota.

A three-member inquiry committee later found that question papers of multiple examinations had been leaked, pointing to organised malpractice. The university said further administrative action would follow based on the committee’s findings.