The Chief Commissioner of India (CIC) issued an order directing that universities cannot charge more than Rs 2 per page of an answer sheet for evaluation

Updated on: Thursday, January 28, 2016

exampaper The Chief Commissioner of India (CIC) issued an order on January 15, directing that universities cannot charge more than Rs 2 per page of an answer sheet for evaluation. This move came on the heels of an appeal filed by Abne Ingty, a Delhi University student, challenging the Rs 750 charge imposed per question paper for accessing the answer sheets under the RTI Act. Thousands of university students were facing delays in receiving the evaluated answer sheet copies or suffering due to the high charge imposed.

The high answer-sheet access fee charged by the Delhi University had separated the students into two groups-those who could afford the fee and see their answer sheets, and those who could not. According to CIC Sridhar Acharyulu, this is a breach to the right to equality accorded by Article 14 of the Constitution.

"Prescribing unreasonable cost and time constraint will in fact amount to complete denial of information to the students on grounds of their economic status, which is in violation of Article 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution of India. No citizen shall be discriminated on the basis of his access to resources or any criteria including poverty as per his fundamental report to equality. It is very sad that an educational institution like university is not mindful of the basic fact and they are going on denying information to the students, by imposing high cost, which means if you cannot afford, you cannot access," the CIC told TOI.

As directed by the CIC to the University Grant Commission (UGC) and Association of Indian Universities, this order will be circulated and implemented in all academic institutions and bodies. The Union HRD Ministry has also been directed that all universities be brought under uniform rules and regulations by fixing a charge of not more than Rs 2 answer sheet page.

This move by the CIC would help hundreds of students who are still waiting to see their answer sheet under the RTI Act.

A BSc student of Virani Science College in Rajkot, Vismay Mansetta, had filed an RTI plea with the Saurashtra University (SU) to see three of his answer sheets and was then asked to pay Rs 1,000 per answer sheet. Learning of the extremely high charge, he filed an appeal to the Gujarat Information Commission (GIC).

The Chief Commissioner of India (CIC) issued an order directing that universities cannot charge more than Rs 2 per page of an answer sheet for evaluation

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