Board asked to provide access to copies

The State Information Commission (SIC),in an order,has directed the Uttar Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad to evolve a system where the students and their parents can have access to the answersheets after declaration of results of the examination,under the RTI Act. The order will be effective from this year. The order was passed by Information Commissioner (IC) […]

The State Information Commission (SIC),in an order,has directed the Uttar Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad to evolve a system where the students and their parents can have access to the answersheets after declaration of results of the examination,under the RTI Act. The order will be effective from this year.

The order was passed by Information Commissioner (IC) Sunil Kumar Choudhary after one Anurag Sharma,and a few others,had filed a complaint that the UP Board had refused them access to their answersheets as they had been destroyed. The argument put forth by the secretary of the UP Board,Prabha Tripathi,that it was not feasible to maintain the record of answersheets of lakhs of students,was rejected by the SIC.

The Board cited a Supreme Court order of a similar case and said that according to the rules,few months after the declaration of result and re-evaluation,the answersheets can be incinerated and it was not possible to provide information related to 2008.

Considering the circumstances,the SIC exempted the Board to provide information related to 2008 and before. It,however,directed the Board to evolve a system under which it could fix a time frame during which the students can seek information by paying a nominal charge.

Asserting that the information comes under the RTI purview,SIC said the Supreme Court order cited by the Board was in different context and delivered before the RTI Act was enacted in 2005. On the Boards plea that the students will come to know the name of the examiner,the IC said that it reserves the right to keep the name confidential. Also,those seeking access to the answersheets would not automatically get the right to get their copies re-evaluated, the IC said. The order would not be effective for the examinations conducted by the Public Service Commission or other bodies conducting competitive exams.

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