KNRUHS PG results spark uproar: Medicos allege major evaluation lapses amid VC's resignation

Hyderabad: Several final-year MD and MS students from the government and private medical colleges, under the Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences (KNRUHS), are questioning the evaluation process after many students reportedly failed by a narrow margin.

The agitation by the students has further been fueled after the Vice Chancellor of KNRUHS, Dr. PV Nanda Kumar Reddy, resigned from the post on Friday.

The PG medicos, who were already urging the University and the Health Department officials to reevaluate the exam process, are now pressing harder for their demands. These students have cited a recent instance where the University allowed to revaluate a female student's paper and consequently, she was declared passed.

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As per the latest media report by The New Indian Express, the students have claimed that there were gross discrepancies and irregularities in the evaluation process of the postgraduate (MD/MS) theory examinations held between October 7 and October 15. Such allegations have also been brought against the practical exams held between October 25 and October 30. After the exams, the results were declared on November 4.

However, TNIE has reported that 200 out of 1900 candidates have failed across government and private colleges. According to the students, compared to previous examinations, the results were released unusually fast and while previously, the rate of failure for the entire batches was 1-2% the failure rate now stands at 11%.

When the students approached the VC and submitted a representation to the Health Minister on November, they were directed to the Health Ministry.

Commentig on the matter, a third-year PG student at Gandhi Medical College told TNIE, "We approached the VC and the health minister after the results were declared for revaluation and recounting, who asked us to meet the health secretary, but there was no response from any of the authorities. The issue is very serious as the difference between the expected score and the actual score is approximately 60–80 marks cumulatively. With no concrete way forward, we are exploring further course of action and may also consider legal recourse."

Further raising concerns on whether the evaluators met the National Medical Commission's (NMC) requirement of at least eight years of teaching experience, the students alleged alleged that the less experienced faculty members were appointed for evaluation and they also expressed concerns that a single evluator, instead of a two-level evaluation system, assessed the examination process. Therefore, the students have demanded the constitution of a separate three-member committee to scrutinise the reevaluation process.

Medical Dialogues had reported recently that the postgraduate medical examination process in Telangana came into question as a fact-finding committee of the KNRUHS flagged serious irregularities in the exam.

The KNRUHS panel started probing the matter after a student raised allegations of her answer script being tampered with. Confirming this, the Vice-Chancellor of KNRUHS, Dr. PV Nanda Kumar Reddy, had mentioned that the inquiry commenced after the concerned student approached the University claiming she had been declared ineligible and unfairly failed in the postgraduate medical exams.

After the incident, the principal secretary of the Health and Medical Department, Christina Z Chongthu, set up a three-member committee to investigate the matter, and the panel on Thursday found irregularities and sealed the examination branch.

Also Read: KNRUHS seals exam branch after script tampering allegations rock PG medical evaluation