Wayanad MP and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday asked all political parties to show solidarity with the students of the Chartered Accountant (CA) course in their bid to make the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAI) change the way it evaluates the exam papers.
"Across India 12 lakh CA students are fighting for their right to have their exam papers re-evaluated by ICAI. Given the widespread reports of errors in the evaluation of answer sheets, this demand is justified and should be supported by all political parties. #dearicaiplschange," Gandhi's tweet read.
Students and CAs had begun a nationwide protest on Monday against the ICAI, urging the body to end its alleged practice of "moderating" the results of examinations held by it.
Rahul Gandhi has become one of the first prominent leaders to come out in open support of the protesting students.
The protestors gathered outside the headquarters of the ICAI near ITO office in New Delhi to stage a demonstration.
"We are protesting against the moderation of the results in the exams held by the ICAI. Candidates are not given marks even in the multiple-choice questions (MCQ). This is done under Section 39 of the CA Regulation which gives ICAI the right to manipulate marks in order to maintain their passing ratio," Tarun Choudhary, a student at the protest told ANI here.
Choudhary further alleged that the institute acting on its whim was not awarding full marks to students even in the MCQ segment.
The protest gained steam on social media with the hashtag DearICAIpleasechange soon beginning to trend on Twitter.
The CA course comprises of three stages of examination, CA- Foundation (entry-level), Intermediate and Final.
The students allege that the institute deliberately tampered with the results in the second and third stages to suit its passing percentage.
In response, the ICAI said that they had cleared the air with the students regarding the rules, "However, they were insistent on the demand for allowing re-evaluation of the answer books. They were informed that due process will be followed for consideration of their demand. They were also requested to call off the agitation and students be advised to concentrate on their studies and preparation for the forthcoming examination. In spite of the same; the representatives mentioned that they would continue with this agitation till the time the matter is sorted out."
"All the students are advised not to be carried away by such issues. The Institute is seized of their problems and will be considered and taken up at the appropriate forum by following due process," they advised.
