Biju Patnaik University of Technology in Rourkela

Bhubaneswar, June 1: Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) will digitalise all answer sheets from now on in order to avoid misplacement that may lead to delay in the publication of results.

This decision was taken at an official meeting last week. Chief secretary Jugal Kishore Mohapatra asked the varsity to scan all answer sheets and store them electronically on the lines of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), which digitalises Class X answer sheets.

BPUT has 156 affiliated technical and professional colleges under it with a combined student strength of more than four lakh.

Incidentally, BTech students, who appeared the special examinations to clear back papers under BPUT, are yet to get their results.

About 6,000 students of the 2009-13 batch had taken the special exam last November. The exam allows them to clear all back papers during the four-year course.

The result of this exam was supposed to be published in February but has been delayed by over three months now.

Some affected students said that employers who had promised to hire them or had already hired them have asked to produce their certificates at the earliest.

The state government directed the BPUT vice chancellor to explore the possibility of storing the answer sheets electronically in the method adopted by the CBSE. The meeting also decided to upgrade the BPUT infrastructure.

BPUT vice-chancellor J.K. Satapathy was asked to identify projects such as administrative building, academic block, hostels for boys and girls, housing for faculty and staff, boundary walls, water supply and street lights, auditorium, multi-activity centre and incubation centre that would be taken up on a priority basis. The government asked BPUT to keep the total cost of these projects within Rs 100 crore for 2014-15 and 2015-16, official sources said.

BPUT Students Protection Council had been demanding digitalisation of mark sheets for some time now. President of the council Biplab Prakash Mohanty said: “This is a very welcome effort by the state government. The improper handling of answer sheets has been delaying results and affecting the career of students.”

Officials in the technical education department said the digitisation would help ensure transparency and also quick publication of results.