Hyderabad: Four days after stepping down from his post, Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences vice-chancellor PV Nanda Kumar Reddy went on the offensive on Saturday, rejecting allegations of administrative and exam-related irregularities as “baseless” and driven by attempts to tarnish his reputation.Speaking to TOI, he said, “These allegations are baseless and solely aimed at targeting me. I did not allow any student to write an exam improperly. I am disturbed by the govt’s response towards malpractice as it did not even ask for my version.” The dispute escalated after a three-member fact-finding committee constituted by the health department probed a complaint that a PG medical student was wrongly awarded extra marks and declared passed. The panel reportedly found discrepancies in the exam branch’s functioning. The issue gained traction on social media even as the university did not issue an official clarification. Chief minister A Revanth Reddy later sought a detailed report on how such violations occurred in a key academic institution. Sources in the health department said the govt has not accepted Nanda Kumar’ resignation as of late Saturday night. “Had he not resigned, the govt would have eventually asked him to resign or suspend him,” sources said. A senior official from the directorate of medical education said the allegations appeared credible. “Some failed students were allowed to reappear. Revaluation is not permitted by the National Medical Commission and only recounting is allowed. While reports mention five such cases, one has been confirmed,” the official said. The fact-finding committee also flagged a separate case in which a female PG student alleged her answer script was tampered with. The VC said her complaint was part of a larger inquiry that the government has mishandled. According to Nanda Kumar, the student’s paper was opened during revaluation and her identity became known through the decoding process. She reportedly told officials she had a long-standing dispute with an assistant professor from a Narketpally medical college, who was earlier removed after harassment complaints. She alleged he had been stalking her and suspected he may have used his connections to sabotage her exam paper by getting evaluators to mark several answers with an ‘X’.
