Agra: A major admission scam has been exposed at a university in Agra where 2,000 male students were fraudulently taking their semester exams by enrolling themselves as females at three private colleges.
Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar University’s examination controller, Om Parkash, revealed that anomalies were detected at Major Angad Singh Mahavidyalaya, SBD College of Science and Education in Mainpuri, and Gulkandi Lalaram Mahavidyalaya in Mathura.
Colleges’ self-center privilege exploited
These colleges were designated as ‘self-centres’—a privilege granted to institutions with a higher number of female students, allowing them to use their own staff as invigilators during exams.
The irregularities came to light on Tuesday when significant discrepancies were found in student attendance across the first, second, and third exam shifts. Enrollment data indicated that the number of students present was far below the total seats allocated to these centres.
CCTV footage reviewed by university officials confirmed the malpractice. It showed male students taking exams at these centres, often outnumbering female students, with some rooms exclusively filled with male candidates. In response, the university swiftly cancelled all three examination centres and launched an investigation.
Mass cheating suspected
Authorities suspect the fraud was carried out by the colleges’ administrators to enable mass cheating and inflate pass rates.
Undergraduate and postgraduate exams began on November 21, with form submissions continuing until shortly before the exams began. Administrators of the implicated colleges are accused of exploiting a loophole in the mark sheets, which display students’ photographs and fathers’ names but omit gender details.
Records provided by the examination agency indicated that most students at these centres were female. However, CCTV footage revealed the majority of exam-takers were male, exposing the scam.
University officials confirmed that an investigation is underway and pledged to “take appropriate action based on the findings.” They are also reviewing records from other colleges to identify whether similar malpractice has occurred elsewhere.
