The Gauhati University vice chancellor on Saturday hinted at the involvement of third-party entities as a major scam regarding the manipulation of mark sheets has rocked the public state university.

However, he called for an extensive inquiry into the matter and assured the university's full support in the investigation.

This comes after eight people were arrested today in connection with allegations of ongoing mark sheet manipulation. According to the allegations, university employees handling mark sheet evaluation and updation of final marks strike cash deals to inflate marks and lift backlogs of students. Even in the initial stages of the probe, the presence of an intricate network of intermediaries in every institute affiliated with Gauhati University with reports of students being involved has surfaced.

The student unions of Gauhati University and University Law College have called for a huge protest on Monday (July 1) against the scam that has come to light. They have demanded that instead of centering the investigation around Barpeta, every college that comes under GU should be probed.

Dr Pratap Jyoti Handique today said, "Until 2017, everything was offline in Gauhati University. Then everything was taken online and the university shifted to the iUMS portal. When I joined in 2019, I received several complaints against the system. As there are three batches still enrolled under the system, it was not possible to immediately revert from it."

However, this is the first time an instance of mark sheet manipulation has come to his notice, the VC stated. "We have told Barpeta Police to inform us if they suspect the involvement of anyone from GU. We have also sought the presence of the people of the company who developed the portal," he said.

Dr Handique mentioned that Indian Telephone Industries Limited, a PSU under the Ministry of Communications developed the Integrated University Management System (iUMS) portal for the university.

"There were five people of the company who worked with us initially, now there are four. They are yet to confirm when they will be able to visit. There is one nodal officer who is an employee of the university," he added.

The student union highlighted that the understanding with ITI Ltd to provide iUMS service had ended in 2022. However, the service has continued as three batches are still enrolled. Many third grade employees of the university are suspected to be involved in the scam, the students added.

Meanwhile, Handique accepted that he is not aware of many things going on. "I think the scam is limited to a small circle of people and not very vast. If former students are involved then it is a big issue. The investigation should not be limited to Barpeta only," he said.

"The company's people might have thought to exploit the opportunity to make some easy money before their contract with the university came to an end. This is just a thought that struck my mind," the Gauhati University VC added.

He also spoke out on allegations of students getting backlogs lifted by paying underhand which were leveled by the student union saying that the matter has been noted.

"We have heard their allegations and we will have a discussion with them on the matter. It is not easy to lift backlogs by paying money. A student compulsorily has to take the exam to lift backlogs. We will discuss the matter with the PGSU," Handique said.