Rangappa for probe into fake marks card scam

Former vice chancellor of Karnataka State Open University (KSOU) K S Rangappa took exception to his name figuring in the recently unearthed fake marks card scam.

He told reporters here on Wednesday that the scam should be thoroughly investigated by a competent agency. Rangappa said he was open for a probe by any agency. “Last week, the registrar (evaluation) of the KSOU issued an order to cancel 60,000 to 70,000 marks cards issued by the Mumbai-based agency - Institute of Engineering Management - hired by the KSOU since 2013. The registrar formed a committee of 12 assistant professors to scrutinise all the cancelled marks cards. How is this committee competent to scrutinise the marks card? Instead, the probe should be handed over to a competent agency like the CID or the CBI,” he said.

“What evidence do those who are dragging my name into the issue have?. How do they know that the marks cards issued during my term were fake? Even when I was VC, we had received complaints about fake marks cards. We dismissed two employees following a probe. But during my term we issued marks cards only to those who were admitted to the KSOU. Now, if there is a scam, there are all possibilities of the involvement of insiders which should be probed,” Rangappa said.

“As the partner institutions of the KSOU would have enrolled students, there would be pressure on them to issue marks cards as they would have received the fees. As the KSOU has stopped the courses and is also not issuing marks cards, the partner institutions, under pressure, would have resorted to illegal means and colluded with KSOU staffers. So, all angles of the issue should be probed,” he said.