NU VC Tears Into Previous Exam Agency, Admin Over Winter Exam Blunders

Nagpur: Amid mounting criticism over the handling of Winter 2025 examinations at Nagpur University (NU), vice-chancellor Manali Kshirsagar on Tuesday launched a sharp attack on the previous examination agency, blaming it for major blunders, delays and administrative chaos.Kshirsagar also questioned the earlier administration's decision to hire a new exam agency at the eleventh hour, which ultimately left the firm with the herculean task of understanding the complex examination system with little time on hand. The VC also slammed the new agency for taking up the work despite the already delayed schedule, resulting in glitches in the Winter 2025 examinations. She admitted that all mistakes were noted and rectified by the exam section.Addressing the media at Jamnalal Bajaj Administrative Building's Senate Hall, the Kshirsagar revealed that legal notices have been issued to the former agency over its failure to hand over soft copies of students' data to the new agency. However, she also said two notices sent earlier have returned due to the wrong address issue. The NU legal team has now traced a third address where a fresh notice will be served. Tuesday's press conference was perhaps the first instance of a NU VC holding a press conference on Winter examination issues a day after declaration of all results.Kshirsagar further said that nearly Rs70 lakh of the previous agency's payments have been held back over the pending inquiry. She also stated that payments to the new examination agency have not yet been released despite the completion of all Winter examinations. The university, she said, will first conduct a detailed review of the entire examination process, including delays, deadline violations and errors reported during the Winter session, before clearing any bills. Kshirsagar said the previous agency misled the inquiry committee by claiming that the data had been handed over. "Eventually, we had to rely on our manual data and process results," she said.The VC said she was informed after assuming office on December 1 last year that even the examination timetable had not been finalised. She said Winter 2025 examinations began nearly one-and-a-half months late, creating a cascading effect on schedules, evaluations and declaration of results.Kshirsagar said repeated attempts were made through emails, notices, and direct communication to obtain the missing data from the previous agency, but the company failed to cooperate. An inquiry committee was also constituted, but according to her, the agency did not respond satisfactorily before the panel.She maintained that the examination department and university staff worked continuously, including weekends and holidays, to normalise the situation. Kshirsagar said the NU has learnt a "bitter lesson" from the episode and has now started setting up its own data centre to ensure all examination data remains with the university even if agencies are changed in future.