New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday came out in support of chartered accountancy students who are agitation since Monday in front of the ICAI head office here for re-evaluation of the answer scripts and reforms in the entire examination system.
The students have alleged that the Institute of Chartered Accounts of India (ICAI) deliberated tampered with the results of the exam held in May to restrict the pass percentage. They further alleged ICAI has adopted this as a matter of policy and is failing students year after year.
In a tweet on Wednesday morning, Rahul, who is representing the Waynard constituency in Kerala, said the students’ demand is justified and political parties should support their cause.
Across India 12 Lakh CA students are fighting for their right to have their exam papers re-evaluated by ICAI.
Given the widespread reports of errors in the evaluation of answer sheets, this demand is justified & should be supported by all political parties.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 25, 2019
On Monday, ICAI had issued a notification, in midst of the vociferous protests, announcing the evaluation of the answer scrips through digital mode to avoid errors and to make the entire evaluation process transparent.
It said that the CA intermediate and foundation level exams to be held in November 2019 and May 2020 will be put through digital evaluation.
Students, however, have remained defiant in their stand and have refused to end the protests until ICAI announces comprehensive reforms and amendment to the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949.
What triggered the agitation:
It all began last week after ICAI released ‘suggested answers’ to the May 2019 exams. When compared with the answer sheets obtained through RTI, students found several discrepancies in evaluation. A few students told PTI that a few correct answers were not marked at all and in some cases, the total marks in the answer scripts differed from the mark sheets.
The CA does not allow re-evaluation of the answers, but only re-totalling of marks.