Staff on census duty, DAVV postpones UG & PG exams

Indore: Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya (DAVV) has postponed its undergraduate first year and postgraduate second semester examinations after a large number of employees from the examination department were deployed for census-related duties, putting the university’s examination system under severe strain.The undergraduate first year examinations, which were earlier scheduled to begin from May 12, will now commence from May 19. Also, the postgraduate second semester examinations have been deferred by 10 days and will now start from May 22 instead of May 12.The decision was taken during a meeting attended by vice-chancellor Rakesh Singhai and registrar Prajjwal Khare. University officials said conducting examinations in a disorganised manner amid acute staff shortage could have created major logistical problems.DAVV is expected to conduct examinations for nearly 60,000 students in the upcoming phase, including BA, BCom, BSc and BJMC first year students along with MBA, law and BPEd second semester students. But, nearly 80 percent employees from the university’s examination and confidential sections have been assigned census duties, affecting preparations for the May session.Officials said the shortage has disrupted crucial examination-related tasks such as transportation of confidential question papers to centres, collection of answer sheets and coordination with evaluation centres. Administrative and confidential branches are also facing pressure due to reduced manpower.Examination controller Ashesh Tiwari said the university had sought exemption for some employees from census duties to ensure smooth conduct of examinations. “We have sought exemption from the civic body commissioner for some of the staff so that we can conduct the exam properly. But the staff has not been relieved so it was better to postponed the exam,” he said.If the staff shortage continues, examination work, result processing, marksheet preparation and degree distribution may also be affected. The updated examination timetable was uploaded on the university website by Wednesday evening, he said.