NCERT reluctant to lodge police case against students forging mark sheets

BHUBANESWAR: The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is unlikely to initiate legal action against the three girls, who allegedly forged their mark sheets and got admissions into the Regional Institute of Education (RIE) in Bhubaneswar.
"We are concerned about the career of the students. Their future would be spoiled if police cases are registered against them," NCERT's joint director B K Tripathy told TOI over the phone from Delhi.
NCERT is yet to reply to the letter sent by RIE's principal on September 5, seeking permission to hand over the matter to police or any investigating agency.
"I cannot take the decision on my own. I am still waiting a reply from NCERT, which governs the RIE institutes in the country," said RIE principal U K Nanda.
The three students, who had completed their graduation from different colleges affiliated to theNorth Orissa University in Mayurbhanj district between 2002 and 2008, were found tampering with their mark sheets to seek admission in RIE in 2009. The matter came to light during a pre-marital inquiry of one of the three girls by her prospective groom.
Based on the man's complaint, the RIE principal sent the girl's mark sheet to NOU for verification, along with the two other girls' mark sheets. The NOU confirmed forgery of the marks sheets a few days ago.
Sources said one of the girls changed her aggregate marks in Plus III arts from 765 to 1403. The other two girls, who were students of science stream, illegally inflated their numbers to 1450 and 1424 from 1065 and 1025 respectively.
"Though one of the girls graduated in 2002, her certificate showed she completed her graduation in 2004," said NOU's controller of examinations, Laxmidhar Nayak.
Nayak said NOU has so far received about 11 mark sheets of students from various colleges for verifications this year. "The mark sheets of only those three girls were manipulated. The tampering must have been made in a printing press," Nayak said.
Asked as to why NOU has not approached police, Nayak said, "The matter was raised in our meeting. We have asked the concerned colleges to take action."