'Why should students pay for errors in certificates issued by universities'

Times of India‎‎: Chennai: Wednesday, March 15, 2017.

Madurai Kamarajar University (MKU) is under the Tamil Nadu State Information Commission's scrutiny for demanding fees for corrections in certificates.

The issue came up at a recent TNSIC hearing after a student from Haryana filed an RTI application saying she was made to wait nearly two years to get a mistake in her marksheet and Provisional Certificate corrected. The TNSIC order said it was the second instance where a student's name was wrongly recorded in certificates. Such errors were unbecoming of MKU's status of 'University with Potential for Excellence,' it said. As directed, Archana Kumari provided her original marksheet, provisional certificate and 700 in January 2015, but her surname in the certificates was Kuamari. It wasn't until December 2016 that she got a copy of the corrected certificates. This was after a second appeal was filed. MKU also demanded another draft of 700.

"It looks unfair that when the name of a student is spelt wrongly in a certificate issued by the university, it demands 700 for the correction. When the mistake is on the part of the university, it is grossly unfair to penalize the student. The student should be recompensed for the suffering undergone," TNSIC said in its order. The university did not respond to the RTI appeal and the TNSIC asked the Registrar to pay Kumari 2,000 under Section 19(8)(b) of the RTI Act.