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subjects Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, section IV is of total 48marks (16 X 3).

However, the Hindi version of paper II said something else. It said, for eachquestion in section IV, 3 marks are awarded if the bubble corresponding tothe correct answer is darkened, and zero if no bubble is darkened. An

examinee who takes / opted Hindi version of paper notes that 6 questionsin this section are of 6 X 3 = 18 marks although they are 48 marks inEnglish version. From this, the examinee who attempts Hindi version willlose 30 marks.

Additionally, any examinee, by normal logic attempts the questions ofhigher marks first and then the questions of lower marks. So, the Hindimedium students suffered the blow in two ways.

Following annexures will prove invaluable in deciding the mattero ANNEXURE 1 : An Analysis of Errors

o ANNEXURE 2 : IIT website announced corrective measureso ANNEXURE 3 : Why this measure fall short in proper selection

o ANNEXURE 4 : Photocopy of Question Paper

o ANNEXURE 5 Various Reporting Nnewspapers have reported this

major error in the question papers which is serious in nature and needsthe re-scheduling of the examination since even 1 mark has greatimpact on the admission of thousands of candidates.

It is, therefore, requested that the application may kindly be allowed,and by an appropriate interim order or direction the respondents maykindly be restrained from holding any counseling or making anyadmissions on the basis of written examination held on 11.4.2010.Ministry of H.R.D. should be directed to hold the fresh examination.Thanking you

With Regards

Attachments:ANNEXURE 1 Analysis of ErrorsANNEXURE 2 - IIT website announced corrective measuresANNEXURE 3 Why this measure fall short in proper selectionANNEXURE 4 Photocopy of Question PaperANNEXURE 5 - News papers Reporting


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Annexure 1 An Analysis of Errors

Error/Issue Corrective Measure Proposedon 2nd May Remarks

1: The subject headings Physicsand Mathematics in the ORS areinterchanged.

Each ORS both for Paper 1 & Paper 2 will be evaluated in two wayssequential question number-wise and subject headings-wise. Ineach case the higher score of the two evaluations will be taken asthe candidate's score. Should one of the ways of evaluating leadto a mark below the minimum qualifying mark in one of thesubjects, the other way will be deemed to be the higher of thetwo scores.

Different students react to such errors differently uexam condition. It would have cost some students time, some less time and some would possibly ignored it.

2. Question 44 in the Mathematicssection of Paper 1 in code 4 of theHindi version was not printed.

The ORS of the candidates who were given Code 4 of the Hindiversion of the Question Paper 1 will be evaluated omittingQuestion 44 and the overall score for the Mathematics section ofPape r 1 of those candidates will be appropriately scaled

The students who had these types of papers did fquestions in the same time in comparison to owho had to do more questions in the same time. Wnot be an unfair way to scale?

IIT JEE is an Examination test based on performwhich does not work principle of scaling or interpoletc.

3. The Instructions on QuestionPaper Format and Marking Schemefor section IV in the Hindi version ofPaper 2 was wrongly printed. Eachquestion in this section was shownto carry 3 marks instead of 8.

Each question of section IV of Paper 2 will be evaluated for 8marks.

The student selects questions on the basis of how the student is for a particular question and how mmarks would that question fetch. Clearly, this affects the strategy for taking the question papecan affect rank.

4. In a few cases the question

paper contained two unreadablepages and two partially readablepages in the Physics section ofPaper 1.

Since the registration numbers of these candidates have beentaken note of at the time of the examination, their ORS will beevaluated omitting the unreadable questions and their scores forthe Physics section of Paper 1 will then be appropriately scaled.

The students who had these types of papers did fequestions in the same time in comparison to others

who had to do more questions in the same time. Wnot be an unfair way to scale?

IIT JEE is an Examination test based on performancwhich does not work principle of scaling or interpoletc.

5. In more than one answer correctquestions partial marks were therewith no negative marking. Astudent marking all bubbles shouldget full marks as there was nonegative marking.

None, but earlier in media this is what has been said: no mark willbe awarded at all if there is even one incorrect option chosen.

This clause was not there in the instructions for ttest. So, strictly it is not fair to insert such clause the test is over.


4/23

The high density ranks lower ranks are likely to be most affected by this, high ranks should be affected less. Conducting the exam again appears tbe as the most fair solution with the current proposal. However, at this point JAB seems to be in no mood to conduct the exam again. According t

the poll

Annexure 2 IIT website announced corrective measures for the errors encountered iJEE 2010

Around 4.72 lakh candidates appeared in JEE 2010 on April 11, 2010. Certain errors in the question papers as well as in the Ocame to light immediately. The IITs sincerely regret the hardships that the candidates may have faced during texamination. The Joint Admissions Board held an emergency meeting in New Delhi on Sunday, 2nd May 2010 to arrive appropriate corrective measures.

The Board observed unanimously that the situation does not warrant the holding of any re-examination and that the remedmeasures outlined below will adequately redress the concerns of students arising out of the present situation:

Error 1: The subject headings Physics and Mathematics in the ORS are interchanged.

Corrective Measure: Each ORS (both for Paper 1 & Paper 2) will be evaluated in two ways (sequential question number-wise asubject headings-wise). In each case the higher score of the two evaluations will be taken as the candidate's score. Shouone of the ways of evaluating lead to a mark below the minimum qualifying mark in one of the subjects, the other way wbe deemed to be the higher of the two scores.

Error 2: Question 44 in the Mathematics section of Paper 1 in code 4 of the Hindi version was not printed.

Corrective Measure: The ORS of the candidates who were given Code 4 of the Hindi version of the Question Paper 1 will evaluated omitting Question 44 and the overall score for the Mathematics section of Paper 1 of those candidates will appropriately scaled.

Error 3: The Instructions on Question Paper Format and Marking Scheme for section IV in the Hindi version of Paper 2 wwrongly printed. Each question in this section was shown to carry 3 marks instead of 8.

Corrective Measure: Each question of section IV of Paper 2 will be evaluated for 8 marks.


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Error 4: In a few cases the question paper contained two unreadable pages and two partially readable pages in the Physisection of Paper 1.

Corrective Measure: Since the registration numbers of these candidates have been taken note of at the time of texamination, their ORS will be evaluated omitting the unreadable questions and their scores for the Physics section of Pap1 will then be appropriately scaled.

The Joint Admissions Board decided to implement the above measures and to continue to monitor the situation till the processof Admission to IITs/ IT BHU and ISM Dhanbad through JEE 2010 is completed.

Annexure 3 WHY THIS MEASURES FALL SHORT??

Further to this it has been explained in Covering Letter and inAnnexure - 1

IIT JEE is an Examination test for selection of student which is

Real Time Test of response of student

based on performance against same set of question

asked to answer through OCR Answer Sheet

It does not work/follow the principle of

Scaling or

Interpolation etcTherefore, same can not be used to used to judge the aptitude of students

This principles does not hold here because

Knowledge of every student is different

Strength on different module of each student is not same


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Human knowledge wise performance is not governed by any Physical Law of nature

Therefore mathematical model like Scaling does not hold good in selection ofstudent in an examination list

The high density ranks lower ranks are likely to be most affected by this, high ranksshould be affected less

Even 1 mark has great impact on the admission of thousands of candidates

Therefore, Conducting the exam again appears to be the only fair solution in currentsituation


7/23

ANNEXURE 5 Various Reporting

Instances of ambiguity come to light in IIT-JEE papers

Press Trust of India, Monday April 12, 2010, New Delhi

Allegations of ambiguity in the IIT-JEE papers were made on Monday including that they carried certain questions having

more than one correct answer, but the complaints were refuted by the organisers.

There were certain questions in Section-II which were carrying more than one correct answer. The instructions said

candidates will get partial marking for choosing partially correct answers. These questions had no negative marks, an IITprofessor claimed.

"This provision could have allowed students to exercise random choice. Without using mind, a student can randomly

blacken all bubbles and stand to get full marks," the professor said.

The IIT-JEE for the first time introduced the provision for partial marking. There were 15 such questions, carrying 45

marks, in Section-II of the papers yesterday. The papers had a few other questions where the candidates were asked to

make correct matching. But there was possibility of more than one correct matching, the professor said.

However, IIT-JEE authorities denied these allegations. "If one student blackens all the bubbles, his answer will be

rejected," IIT-JEE organising chairman Prof T S Natarajan said.

The IIT-JEE today also issued a statement, clarifying that appropriate corrective actions would be taken during evaluation

to take care of printing errors in the papers.

"There was a minor error in the order of printing of the subject headings (Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics) in theORS... One of the 10-codes (namely, Code 4) of the Hindi version of Paper-1, Question 44 was not printed. Appropriate

corrective action will be taken during evaluation of the papers," the statement said.

The test was conducted at 1,026 centres across the country yesterday as nearly 4.72 lakhs students attempted the

examination for nearly 10000 seats in the 15 IITs, IT BHU and ISM Dhanbad.
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8/23

Major error in Hindi version of IIT paper

Akshaya Mukul, TNN, Apr 15, 2010, 02.32am IST

NEW DELHI: Faulty instructions in the Hindi version of paper II in IIT-JEE 2010 could cost students who took the test in

Hindi a whopping 48 marks.

Rajiv Kumar, professor, IIT-Kharagpur, pointed out that as per the English version of the paper, section IV of paper II had

two questions each having four parts (A, B, C and D); each part being of two marks. Thus there were 4x2x2 = 16 marks for

each subject. Since there are three subjects -- mathematics, physics and chemistry -- section IV is of total 48 marks (16x3).

However, Kumar pointed out that the translation of Hindi version of paper II said something else. It said, "For eachquestion in section IV, three marks are awarded if the bubble corresponding to the correct answer is darkened, and zero if

no bubble is darkened. No negative marks will be awarded for this section."

Kumar said that while English version clearly stated that each question was of eight marks, the Hindi version said each

question was of three marks. "An examinee who takes the Hindi version of the paper notes that six questions in this section

are of 6x3=18 marks, though they are of 48 marks," Kumar said.

An email question sent to T S Natarajan of IIT-Madras who was involved in this year's JEE did not evince any reply. Evenhis phone was switched off.

Pointing out the impact of faulty instruction in Hindi, Kumar said, "A JEE examinee who has to do a trade-off between

time and gains (in terms of scored marks) decides that it is much harder to crack questions of 18 marks in the stipulated

time and concentrates on other problems. Thus, he simply ignores those six questions of section IV, and is deprived of 16

marks each in three subjects, namely mathematics, physics and chemistry and loses 48 marks."
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/


9/23

JEE paper full of blunders: IIT professor

Priyanka Dube, CNN-IBN

Posted on Apr 14, 2010 at 17:00 | Updated Apr 14, 2010 at 17:48

New Delhi: A professor at IIT-Kharagpur has claimed that there are serious blunders in the evaluation of the IIT Joint

Entrance Exams.

IIT-Kharagpur Professor Rajiv Kumar says there are blunders in the setting of the questions and that a clever student can

score 93 marks in IIT-JEE 2010 without knowing the correct answers.

According to Kumar there is a problem in 2 sections, Section 2 of Paper 1 and Section 4 of Paper 2 of IIT-JEE 2010. In

both cases there can be more than one correct answers to a question. He gives an example saying that if a question hasthree incorrect answers option A, option B and D.

Since there is no negative marking, if a candidate marks all four options and not the correct option which is 2, he can still

get full marks.
http://ibnlive.in.com/byline/Priyanka+Dube.htmlhttp://ibnlive.in.com/agency/CNN-IBN.htmlhttp://ibnlive.in.com/byline/Priyanka+Dube.htmlhttp://ibnlive.in.com/byline/Priyanka+Dube.htmlhttp://ibnlive.in.com/agency/CNN-IBN.html


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According to Kumar there are five such questions of three marks each in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics in Paper 1

and two questions of eight marks each in Paper 2, which add up to 93 marks.

But the IIT administration is rubbishing this allegation

Byte - If they (candidates) get one right and one wrong then they get zero. It is known to all students," says IIT-JEE

Organising Chairman Professor TS Natarajan.

The faith of young aspirants in IIT, too, stands strong.

"Anyone who is sincerely preparing knows that you cannot mark all three," says an aspirant.

"I am sure IIT will make sure everyone gets their due," says another.

Ajay Antony, who has been preparing students for IIT, says the problem has a simple solution.

"If IITs would give a statement that if one marks a wrong answer they will get a zero then that would clear the air

completely," he says.

The IIT-JEE exams have always been infamous for not being transparent with their marking system. Till four years back

one couldn't even carry out the question paper out of the exam hall. But that has changed now and hopefully so will the

confusion over IIT-JEE 2010.


11/23

IIT-JEE Hindi paper had wrong instructions: Prof

Press Trust of India, Thursday April 15, 2010, New Delhi

An IIT professor has alleged the just-held IIT-Joint Entrance Exam had carried "wrong instructions" in certain questions

involving 48 marks in the Hindi version of the paper.

The Hindi version of the paper-II of the test carried wrong instructions which could have misledstudents, Professor Rajiv

Kumar, IIT Kharagpur, said on Wednesday.

His claim comes two days after he alleged ambiguity in the IIT-JEE papers including that they carried certain questions

having more than one correct answer which could prove disadvantageous to serious examinees.

As per the English version of the paper, there were certain questions carrying 48 marks.

However, the Hindi versions presented the same questions with wrong instructions that they carried 18 marks. These

questions were in Section IV of Paper II, he alleged.

Nobody from IIT could be contacted for a reaction to the professor's allegation.
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12/23

IIT official admits mistakes in papers; asks students not to panic

16 Apr 2010, 1340 hrs IST,TNN

NEW DELHI: After two reports by the TOI on blunders in this year's IIT-JEE, the organising committee on Thursdayfinally admitted mistakes but asked students not to panic.

Mistakes would not affect evaluation, the organisers said. "There are certain minor mistakes in the papers here and there.

But I can assure the candidates that these mistakes will not affect their performance. They will be taken care of during

evaluation of papers," TS Natarajan, chairperson of IIT-JEE organising committee, said.

Natarajan said there were a few printing errors in the question papers. He admitted the papers carried a printing error as

subject-heads of mathematics and physics were interchanged. The Hindi version of the papers also carried wrong

instructions.

As per the English version of the paper, there were certain questions carrying 48 marks. However, the Hindi versions

presented the same questions with wrong instruction that they carried 18 marks. Besides, certain questions were not printed

in the Hindi version. "All efforts will be taken to ensure that such printing mistakes do not occur in future," Natarajan said.

Mistakes were pointed out by Rajiv Kumar of IIT-Kharagpur who said paper I had 28 questions each in maths, physics and

chemistry, of three marks each, divided into four sections. Section II had five questions of three marks each, one or more

correct answers (partial marking) with no negative marking for incorrect answer. Kumar said if some candidate darkened

all bubbles then he could deserve full credits.


13/23

Posted: Sat, Apr 17 2010. 3:20 PM IST

Nitish for fresh entrance for IIT-JEE 2010

Nitish Kumar said he spoke to union human resource minister Kapil Sibal and wrote a letter seeking his immediate

intervention

Patna: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar demanded holding of fresh entrance test for IIT-JEE 2010 following detection of

alleged mistakes in the Hindi version of the question paper.

A fresh entrance test is the only solution following reports of mistakes in the Hindi version of the IIT-JEE paper, Kumar

told reporters on 17 April.

He said he spoke to union human resource minister Kapil Sibal and wrote a letter seeking his immediate intervention.

Kumar said he was not satisfied with the reasons given by the incharge of the IIT-JEE 2010 entrance test and the Centre

should initiate an enquiry into the mistakes in the Hindi version of the IIT-JEE paper.

The chief minister said a delegation led by director of a coaching institute led by mathematic wizard Anand Kumar met

him last evening and had sought his intervention in the matter.

A Professor from IIT Kharagpur Rajiv Kumar recently alleged that the Hindi version of the paper-II of the test carried

wrong instructions which could have misled students in the Hindi heartland.

However, IIT-JEE organising chairman Prof T S Natarajan later said, There are certain minor mistakes in the papers here

and there. But I can assure the candidates that these mistakes will not affect their performance. They will be taken care of

during evaluation of papers.


14/23

Indian Express

Nitish demands IIT-JEE re-test

Express news service

Posted: Sun Apr 18 2010, 03:20 hrs Patna:

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on Saturday demanded an IIT-JEE re-test for those students who had taken the examination in theHindi medium. Besides the wrong marks being printed against the questions in Paper-II, Hindi medium students had also

been given the Physics answersheets in the Mathematics paper.

Nitish Kumar has already spoken to Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal on the matter and said that the students from the

Hindi belt should not suffer. Kumar took up the matter after Super 30 mathematicians Anand Kumar and other heads from

other coaching centres brought the matter to the CM's notice. "A fresh entrance test is the only solution following mistakes

in the Hindi version of the IIT-JEE paper," Kumar said demanding Sibal's intervention. Kumar also demanded an inquiry

by the Centre for the goof-up.

Anand Kumar told The Sunday Express: "In the Hindi version of paper-II, six questions had three marks each writtenagainst them whereas the English paper for the same questions had six marks each."
http://www.indianexpress.com/columnist/ens/http://www.indianexpress.com/columnist/ens/http://www.indianexpress.com/columnist/ens/


15/23

13 IITs meet at IIT-K

Abhinav Malhotra, TNN, Apr 25, 2010, 10.05pm IST

KANPUR: Candidates who tried their luck at the coveted IIT-JEE-2010 on April 11 have a reason to smile because the

issue of misprint on OMR sheets was taken up with all seriousness and discussed in detail by the 15 IITs at a joint meeting

convened at IIT-Kanpur on Sunday.

It might be recalled that candidates were confused when they found that 'Physics' was misprinted as 'Maths' on the OMR

sheets as a results of which the students had to face hardship. It was only after this that the candidates and their wards took

up the issue with the IITs saying the serial number of the question paper did not match with the corresponding number on

the OMR sheet causing extreme problem. The IIT-Kanpur-- unlike other IITs-- accepted the mistake and assured the

candidates that whatever would be done, it would be in the interest of the candidates and in no way would they face loss of

marks.

The Sunday's meeting of the directors of the 15 IITs largely concentrated on this particular issue wherein they discussed

the printing error and shared their views for a probable solution to the problem without affecting the results of the students.

"It was discussed in detail that the best interests of the students who appeared in the IIT-JEE-2010 on April 11 should bekept in mind. Eleven directors of various IITs and two representatives, one each from Rajasthan and Bhubaneswar,

participated in the meeting and put forth their recommendations with a view to resolve the issue. Therefore, whatever is

practically correct and transparent will be done in this regard," informed Sanjeev S Kashalkar, registrar, IIT-Kanpur while

talking to TOI.

The registrar further informed that the recommendations made by all the directors would be put before the Joint AdmissionBoard (JAB) committee during a meeting scheduled for May 2 where again the directors of all the 15 IITs would meet in

the presence of representatives from the Ministry of Human Resource Development. It is JAB committee which is to

finally decide as to what should be done in the interests of the candidates.

"The problem will first be addressed to the Joint Admission Board (JAB) Committee which will in turn give its final

verdict in this issue as it is a competent committee and holds the power to do so," added Kashalkar.

The directors also discussed various other issues of both big and small nature and heard problems of employees working inthe IITs.


16/23

Saturday , May 1 , 2010 |

Veil off IITs Hindi hurdle

- Figures show vernacular aspirants dismal success CHARU SUDAN KASTURI

New Delhi, April 30: Students who appeared for the IIT Joint Entrance Examination in

Hindi performed far worse than English test takers over the past two years, suggesting apossible language disadvantage that errors in this years examination may have amplified.

Hindi test takers were disproportionately unsuccessful compared with their English

counterparts in the IIT-JEE in 2008 and 2009, data accessed by The Telegraph from the

organisers confidential reports for the two years reveal.

The trend suggested by the data for 2008 and 2009 extends to earlier years too, confirmedtop sources among IIT-JEE organisers two days before the institutes unveil a damage-

control road map after this years errors.

The IITs are scheduled to announce on May 2 how they plan to compensate for errors in the question papers that could

have selectively hurt Hindi test takers.

Human resource development minister Kapil Sibal has already expressed his unhappiness over the errors to the IITdirectors. Around 4.5 lakh students appeared for the IIT-JEE this year.

The errors misled Hindi test takers about the true weightage of several questions, which these students may not have

attempted to the best of their ability as a consequence.

But the reports of the organising committees of the IIT-JEE for the years 2008 and 2009 suggest that the errors may only

be accentuating traditional disadvantages suffered by students who take the test in Hindi.

The reports which are not made public even years after the tests are over reveal that Hindi test takers had a much

lower success rate than those who took the test in English.

In 2008, Hindi test takers comprised 13.08 per cent of the total 3.15 lakh students who appeared for the IIT-JEE. But only1.27 per cent of the successful candidates were Hindi test takers.

Last year, students who appeared for the test in Hindi constituted 12.86 per cent of the total number of students who

appeared for the examination. But only 1.84 per cent of the qualified students took the IIT-JEE in Hindi.

In contrast, English test takers who constituted 86.92 per cent and 87.14 per cent of aspirants in 2008 and 2009 respectively

made up 98.73 per cent and 98.16 per cent of successful students respectively in the two years.

These statistics cover all categories of seats general, Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Other Backward Classes and

physically disadvantaged.

Poorer performance of a group is often interpreted as equivalent to lower merit.

SC/ST, OBC and women students are often said to be less meritorious because their average performance is often below

that of general category students.

But vast differences in performance between two groups, observed over large samples as in the case of the IIT-JEE

are also attributed globally to likely disadvantages one group suffers.

The historical disadvantages suffered by SC/ST and OBC students are the reasons cited by the government for reservations

across higher educational institutions for them.


17/23

A key reason behind the poorer performance of Hindi test takers as compared with those who appear for the IIT-JEE in

English may be the inability of the former set to benefit from coaching classes, sources said.

Most IIT-JEE coaching classes are centred around metros and special hubs like Kota, and invariably train students to takethe test in English.


18/23

IIT issues clarification on mistakes in JEE papers

Akshaya Mukul, TNN, May 3, 2010, 03.29am IST

NEW DELHI: IIT-Kharagpur professor Rajiv Kumar, who had highlighted errors in IIT entrance exam, has rubbished a

series of explanations by the IIT-Joint Entrance Examination Board on mistakes in this years paper.

Kumar said in its explanation, IIT ignored the biggest error in its instructions for section II of paper I and section IV of

paper II, by which a candidate could score 93 marks by blindly darkening all corresponding bubbles and without attracting

any penalty due to no-negative marking for wrong answers. The first error was that subject headings of physics and

mathematics in the optical response sheet (ORS) were interchanged. This resulted in loss of time and created confusion.

In its corrective explanation, IIT said each ORS (both for paper one and two) will be evaluated in two ways: sequential

question number-wise and subject headings-wise. In each case, the higher score of the two evaluations will be taken as thecandidates score. Should one of the ways of evaluating lead to a mark below the minimum qualifying mark in one of the

subjects, the other way will be deemed to be the higher of the two scores.

But Kumar said correction by the IIT will not address the real issue. He said the main issue was of wastage of variable

amount of time due to late instructions. Kumar said it would have helped if the late instructions were not passed and studets

would have marked in their own way: either following the numbering of question paper or the

ORS. Since the instructions were passed, Kumar said, every studentmarked the answer in one unique way as per the

instructions.

Therefore, there is no possibility of any student not following the instructions. The evaluation of ORS in two ways will not

help at all. The second error was that question 44 in the mathematics section of paper I in code four of the Hindi version

was not printed. In its explanation, IIT said ORS of the candidates who were given code four of the Hindi version of the

paper I would be evaluated omitting Question 44 and the overall score for the mathematics section of paper 1 of those

candidates will be appropriately scaled. But Kumar said, A candidate, who got misprinted question, will suffer the most

due to scaling because scaling of marks is proportionate to the average of themarks. Kumar illustrated his argument. He

said the average marks of JEE-2009 was only 11/160 or 7% in mathematics. Thus, a student, on an average, will get only7% of the marks, which is equal to 0.21 marks instead of 3 marks, if he had attempted. A score of 0.21, on an average, is

added to the score, which is not worth mentioning.

Further, he said, the average of mathematics may be less than that of JEE-2009. Third error was the question paper formatand marking scheme for section IV in the Hindi version of Paper II was wrongly printed. Each question in this section was

shown to carry three marks instead of eight. The corrective measure taken by IITs is that each question of section IV of

paper II will be evaluated for eight marks. But Kumar said it was easy for IITs to say evaluation will be of eight marks but

the main issue was that in the absence of any partial marking and seeing a low scoring question, students did not attemptthis question.

How will IITs address this problem, he asked. The fourth error was that in few cases, the question paper contained two

unreadable pages and two partially readable pages in the physics section of paper I. In its response, IIT said since the

registration numbers of these candidates have been taken note of at the time of the examination, their ORS will be

evaluated omitting the unreadable questions and their scores for the physics section of paper I will then be appropriately

scaled. Kumar said like the second error, average score of physics in 2009 JEE was 8/160 or 5%. Thus, a student will get,

on average, a score of extra 5% on sliding.

Mistakes in JEE paper: Nitish calls for probe


19/23

PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today urged Union Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal to

get the alleged mistakes in the Hindi version of IIT-JEE enquired for the benefit of the examinees from Hindi belt

including Bihar.

"I spoke to Sibal and drew his attention towards the allegations of mistakes in the question papers. I requested him to get it

enquired into thoroughly to do justice with the aspirants for IIT from the Hindi belt including Bihar," Kumar said aftertalking to Sibal this evening.

He said he would also write to the union minister highlighting the 'mistakes' in the Hindi version of question paper forimmediate remedial measures.

Kumar spoke to Sibal after a delegation led by director of the 'Super 30' coaching institute Anand Kumar, met him at his

official residence this evening seeking his intervention into the matter.

The 'mistakes' could ruin the prospects of students from rural background as they are the ones who would lose the

maximum due to discrepancies in the Hindi version, Anand said.


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Monday , May 3 , 2010

Remedy holes after test gaffes Doubts bubble in IIT solution

CHARU SUDAN KASTURI

New Delhi, May 2: Fresh concerns have emerged over the errors in this years IIT Joint

Entrance Examination even as the institutes today unveiled a set of corrective measures,

apologising to students but ruling out a retest.

These concerns involve both new revelations challenging the IITs claims, and theinability of the institutes to address a key problem that of the errors depriving the Hindi

test takers of knowledge of the true weightage of several questions.

Stung by concern at the errors, and a slap on the wrist from human resource development

minister Kapil Sibal, the IIT Joint Admission Board (JAB) today held an emergency

meeting here.

The JAB which consists of all the IIT directors and organising faculty concludedthat a set of corrective measures would adequately redress the concerns. (See chart)

The IITs sincerely regret the hardships that the candidates may have faced during the examination, a statement issued by

the institutes said while adding: The situation does not warrant the holding of any re-examination.

But the corrective measures outlined by the IITs have already triggered discontent both among students and otherstakeholders.

An NGO that has filed a public interest litigation in Delhi High Court seeking a stay on the release of the IIT-JEE results

said it would seek Rahul Gandhis intervention.

The IITs had dismissed as immaterial an error that related to a set of questions that had more than one correct answer.

The instructions for these questions said students would receive partial marks for partially correct answers and full marks if

they marked all the correct bubbles. The instructions added that there would be no negative marking for darkening anincorrect bubble for these questions, worth a hefty 93 marks.

These instructions led to the fear that a smart student could score full marks in this section by wholesale darkening of all

four options, which would include the correct answers with no penalty for the incorrectly marked bubbles. The IITs had

dismissed this concern by arguing that they could identify the students who attempted this tactic as such questions never

have all four options correct.

But the 2008 question papers and the model answers for these released by the IITs show that some similar questions thatyear did have all four options correct. This revelation challenges the claim made by the institutes, since a student can now

cite precedent to claim that he legitimately believed that all four answers were correct.

If all four options can be correct, as the 2008 experience now shows, how can the IITs penalise a student for marking all

four bubbles? asked Rajeev Kumar, the computer science professor at IIT Kharagpur who first revealed the errors in the

JEE papers this year.

Kapil Sibal


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The marking-scheme instructions in Hindi question papers allocated three marks each to

six questions that actually carried eight marks each. This error triggered concerns that

Hindi students may not have attempted these questions, or may have half-heartedly

attempted them, having been misled about their true weightage while picking which

questions to spend time on.

But in the corrective measure unveiled today, the IITs have merely agreed to evaluatethese questions for eight marks instead of three. This will not assist those students who

did not attempt these questions as seriously as they would have if they had known their

true worth.

In cases where some questions were either missing or illegible, students performance in

the remainder of the paper will be used to scale up their marks to compensate for thesequestions. But such a scenario presumes that students would have had a success rate in

the missing questions identical to their performance in the remainder of the question

paper.

If two students, one with missing questions and the other with the full paper, performed

equally in the remainder of the paper, and both knew the answers to the missing questions, the student who could not

attempt these questions will likely end up with a lower score for no fault of his.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100503/jsp/nation/story_12405716.jsp#top


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Monday , May 3 , 2010

HEAD PREFECTS

It certainly does not reflect well on the efficiency of the Indian institutes of technology that the question papers for the joint

entrance examinations this year contained errors. The IITs are regarded as symbols of excellence in technical education;

hence incompetence in entrance examination papers is especially embarrassing. This is apart from the fact that no

institution that relies on a fair test for entry can afford to get anything wrong in its question papers.

Having said this, it is important to acknowledge that the creators of the standards of excellence are the institutionsthemselves. Errors in their question papers indicate a slip in those standards, and no one but they themselves can correct it.

The IITs each has its own director, who takes on the responsibility of both achievement and failure of the institution. The

kind of problem represented by errors in question papers has to do with procedural faults within the institutions. They are

entirely within the jurisdiction of the directors concerned. IIT Madras had organized this years entrance test, and it can

reasonably be expected that the director, perhaps in consultation with his peers, would find a way to recompense candidates

for the institutions errors. It is, therefore, deeply unsettling to find that the Union human resource development minister,

Kapil Sibal, has not only demanded an explanation from an IIT director for the errors, but has also set a date for the

directors to declare how they plan to recompense the candidates. The minister has reportedly told the directors to ensurethat such mistakes are not repeated, exactly as though they were head prefects fallen down on the job. The HRD ministrys

overbearing attitude ignores the principle that it is there to frame education policies, not to interfere with the actual working

of the institutions. If every expert charged with institutional responsibility has to be accountable to politicians at every step,

there cannot be much scope for developing human resources or cultivating excellence. Instead, politicization would enter

by the backdoor. Mr Sibals job is not to put directors and vice-chancellors on the mat, but to trust the best persons to do

the jobs they have been appointed to. A separation of responsibilities is the only means of advancement. Mr Sibal will do

education no good if he sits down to monitor each and every examination, irrespective of how many candidates are

appearing for it.


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Delhi High Court admits plea to stay IIT-JEE result

May 7th, 2010 - 12:08 am ICT by IANS

New Delhi, May 6 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Thursday admitted a public interest litigation of a non-governmental

organisation (NGO) that has sought stay on the declaration of result of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) entrance

exam held April 11.Raising the issue of errors in the instructions for examinees who took the IIT joint entrance examination (IIT-JEE) inHindi, the NGO, Satya Foundation, filed the public interest litigation (PIL) on April 25, which was heard Thursday.

Chetan Upadhyaya, secretary and counsel of Satya Foundation, Thursday submitted before the court a list of serious

blunders in the IIT JEE-2010 and said that instead of accepting the faults and re-conducting the examination, the Joint

Admission Board was trying to cover up the issue with corrective measures which are totally illogical and cant be

digested by anybody.

The IIT-JEE board evolved corrective measures May 2 to ensure that genuine candidates were not affected by theexamination errors. It formulated a point-by-point remedial action and posted the same on the IIT-JEE website May 2, it

said.

But the petitioner demanded an interim stay on the publication of results till the pendency of the petition and also that the

examination be reconducted.

The two-judge bench of Acting Chief Justice Madan B. Lokur and Ms. Justice Mukta Gupta, admitting the petition clubbed

it along with the earlier petition filed by Rajeev Kumar, a professor at IIT Kharagpur through his legal counsel PrashantBhushan April 7 for overall transparency in the IIT-JEE system.

Both the PILs will be heared before the court May 19.

The results of IIT-JEE-2010 are expected to be declared by May 26.

Chetan Upadhyaya expressed his strong disagreement before the court for clubbing the two PILs.

These are two different issues, my PIL is about errors in the Hindi version of question paper of the IIT-JEE 2010 while Dr

Rajeev Kumars PIL is about overall transparency in the IIT, Upadhyaya said.

Anand Kumar, director-cum-founder of Super 30, told IANS over phone from Patna that the corrective steps taken up by

the IIT-JEE could not bring justice to the Hindi medium student.

The corrective measures taken by IIT-JEE can in no way provide justice to the students who opted for the Hindi medium

question paper. The only solution is to re-conduct the examination, Anand Kumar told IANS.

Chetan Upadhyaya said he has full faith in the judiciary and justice will be done.

I have full faith in the judiciary, I am sure the court will do justice to the thousands of Hindi medium students in the nexthearing May 19, Upadhyaya told IANS.

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