Aspirants at Jawaharlal Nehru Architecture and Fine Arts University allege paper leak; demand re-exam

Aspirants seeking admission at the Jawaharlal Nehru Architecture and Fine Arts University (JNAFAU) at Masab Tank, have alleged that the entrance examination that was conducted paper on July 14 had been rigged and staged a protest at the campus where certificate verification of the photography was ongoing Saturday.

Over a 100 aspirants supported by some former students have demanded that the ongoing counselling should be stopped immediately and a re-exam for all six courses -- Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Applied Art, Painting, Sculpture, Animation and B Design (Interior Design), Fine Arts, Photography, B Design and National Integration Scheme -- should be conducted. Though the result was announced a week ago and counselling began on August 8, students raised the issue of the paper leak on the third day of the counselling.

A senior official from the fine arts varsity has rubbished the paper leak claim of the students and called the protest a handiwork of disgruntled students. "If there was a leakage, there should have been an uproar soon after the examination. Why now when the only two days are left for the counselling to get over. But on the request of the students the registrar has submitted their representation and has assured them of an inquiry in the matter," he said.

The aspirants in the meantime have said that nearly 20 students have benefited from the paper leakage, which they have alleged is an insider's job.G Muddikati, a former student, who also led the protest said that a day before the exam, some students of a particular city-based coaching institute were given the same object drawing and printing question that appeared in the exam the following day.

"Our suspicion was confirmed when two students who have no knowledge about fine arts secured third and 20th rank in the entrance test. All this was possible because this boy is the son of a professor of the Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University, Hyderabad who in liaison with a professor JNAFU professor gave them the paper," said another aspirant requesting anonymity. It is for the first time since its inception a decade ago that a faculty of the fine arts varsity has been accused of leaking the examination paper.