NATA 2018: Candidates allege unexpectedly low marks in Drawing
New Delhi, June 6: Several candidates cried injustice on Wednesday when the Council of Architecture (COA) published results for the National Aptitude Test in Architecture (NATA) without re-evaluating the earlier result, as it had promised, after protests from examinees against unexpectedly low marks.
As the results were published on Wednesday evening, many students and parents were dismayed at finding that scores for the 'Drawing' paper were not changed as promised.
Earlier, when the results were published for the NATA on June 4, many candidates had complained of getting "unexpectedly" low marks. Attributing the error to a technical glitch, the COA had corrected the marks for the 'Aptitude' test, while asking the candidates, in a message on Monday, to disregard the scores for Drawing and requested them to wait for an updated result on June 6 (Wednesday).
However on Wednesday afternoon, the council sent another communication to the candidates informing them that no re-evaluation will be done for the Drawing paper.
"On direction by the competent authority, it is informed that no review/re-evaluation will be available for the drawing test (Part B)," tcsinfo hub, the technical vendor hired by COA for publishing results, said in an email.
Far from satisfied, candidates were left with no choice but to wonder at allegedly unfair marks they scored in the subject.
"Although I scored 37 in drawing, I was expecting somewhere in the 50s. I got good marks in JEE architecture paper also. There are many others who have been accorded marks in 20s, despite otherwise doing well in the JEE," Mansi Chandwani, a student who took the exam, told IANS.
She added that she has even heard of a student who scored a zero in the paper.
The parent of another candidate called it an "injustice" and said he, along with others, will move to the COA office in the morning to protest there.
"The main issue is that firstly there were so many issues related to technical glitches with the aptitude test results on Monday. They had to change the results thrice before getting it right. And now with the drawing paper, the scores are too low to be believable," said the parent of a candidate who scored below the passing threshold, failing to make the cut.
Students had also found a mistake in the publishing of year of the examination also, which was published as 2019, instead of 2018, and was corrected in the result published on Wednesday.
The annual exam for the architecture aspirants is conducted in two components: an online test for Mathematics and General Aptitude for 120 marks, and another a Drawing test for 80 marks. Both the tests were done on April 29.
Contacted by IANS, COA Vice President Rajeev Garg said there was no issue with the marks and any glitches which were there have been rectified.
"The complaints which we received (after Monday results) have been rectified. The problem was of mismatching. The examiners' scores were not matching with the score cards published. .. as for the low scores for drawing, you and I cannot decide how much one should get. If somebody has got a zero, we will look into it," he said.
A total of 44,265 candidates had appeared for the exam out of which 30,560 qualified.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Constitution powerful tool to protect poorest section of society: Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Tuesday urged citizens to protect the ethos of the Constitution and said the struggle to defend India's inherent philosophy must be reinvigorated and reignited in the 75th year of its adoption.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said the Constitution is a powerful tool to protect the poorest and weakest sections of society, and the stronger it is, the stronger the country will be.
In a swipe at the BJP, the opposition party also asserted that at a time when those out to destroy the Constitution are showing insincere commitment towards it, "our duty to protect it and fight for its true values becomes all the more relevant".
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the people of India should come together to protect each and every thought expressed in the Constitution.
"The 75th year of the adoption of the Constitution has begun today. I extend my warmest wishes to all Indians on this historic occasion," the Congress president said in a post on X.
"The Constitution of India, painstakingly and carefully drafted by our foremothers and forefathers is the lifeblood of our nation. It guarantees us social, economic and political rights. It constitutes India into a sovereign socialist democratic republic," he said.
Justice, liberty, equality and fraternity are not just ideals or ideas, they are the way of life for 140 crore Indians, Kharge asserted.
"Today, we recall the tremendous contribution of the Constituent Assembly and its prolific members. We are forever indebted to their vision and wisdom," he said.
Kharge said Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Babasaheb Dr BR Ambedkar, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Dr Rajendra Prasad, KM Munshi, Sarojini Naidu, Alladi Krishnaswamy Ayyar, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur and several eminent personalities were not just revered national icons but inspiring personalities who became the torchbearers of hope for generations together.
No mention of the Constituent Assembly should be complete without recalling the contribution of the 15 women members who provided equally important inputs for an inclusive India, the Congress president said.
"We must also not forget that the Constituent Assembly received uncountable suggestions from ordinary citizens which are a matter of record," he said.
The Objectives Resolution moved by Nehru and Ambedkar's momentous last speech to the Constituent Assembly form the Magna Carta in protecting the tenets of the Constitution, he said.
"We, the patriotic citizens of India, now have the onerous task of protecting the ethos of the Constitution," Kharge said.
"We, the people of India, should, therefore, come together to protect each and every thought expressed in the Constitution," he said.
In the 75th year of the Constitution's adoption, the struggle to defend India's inherent philosophy must be reinvigorated and reignited, just like the era of the national movement, the Congress president said.
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said, "Heartiest greetings to all of you on Constitution Day. The basic spirit of our Constitution is that justice and rights should be equal for all. Everyone should get an opportunity to live with self-respect."
"The Constitution is a powerful tool to protect the poorest and weakest sections of society. The stronger it is, the stronger our country will be," he said.
"On this day, I salute the fighters, martyrs and every member of the Constituent Assembly who protected the idea of the Constitution and reiterate my resolve to protect it," Gandhi said.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that freedom fighters and great people together created a Constitution that ensured freedom, equality, fraternity and justice for crores of Indians.
"Our Constitution is the protective shield of crores of Indians which gives them every kind of rights. Happy Constitution Day to all the people of the country," she said.
"Salute to the great ancestors, martyrs, revolutionaries and every member of the Constituent Assembly. This democracy and Constitution, obtained from their tireless hard work and sacrifices, is our pride. Come, let us pledge that we will protect it in every situation," Priyanka Gandhi said in her post in Hindi on X.
Congress general secretary in-charge organisation K C Venugopal said India marks an important landmark as it celebrates the 75th Constitution Day today, a day when Ambedkar's revolutionary text was adopted by the Constituent Assembly.
The Constitution of India is not merely a document, it is India's soul and history of millennia in motion, he said in a post on X.
"A living document that gives hope to 140 crore Indians, the Constitution is what keeps the ideals of justice, equality, inclusivity and democracy alive in India," Venugopal said.
"At a time when those out to destroy the Constitution are showing insincere commitment towards it, our duty to protect it and fight for its true values becomes all the more relevant," Venugopal said.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh recalled two books on the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of India by the Constituent Assembly.
Many books have been, and continue to be written on the making of the Constitution. But two have become evergreen classics, he said.
"Granville Austin's scholarly 'The Indian Constitution: Cornerstone of a Nation' first appeared in 1966. He had got unprecedented access to the private collections of a number of key personalities, especially Dr. Rajendra Prasad and K.M. Munshi. He had also interviewed many members of the Constituent Assembly," Ramesh said.
B Shiva Rao's magisterial four-volume "The Framing of the Indian Constitution" was published in 1968, he noted. It has a very poignant letter from Nehru to Shiva Rao on writing a foreword sent just three days before the then prime minister passed away, Ramesh recalled.
Incidentally, Shiva Rao's almost now-forgotten brother Benegal Narsing Rau was a pivotal player in the making of the Constitution, he said.
