Nagpur: What should have been a routine examination turned into yet another episode of confusion at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar College, Deekshabhoomi, on Saturday. Students of BA Mass Communication Semester IV (NEP) students reached the centre for their ‘Political Communication’ paper but the college officials said that Nagpur University (NU) had not informed them about holding the exam in advance.According to the centre in-charge, the university’s attendance sheet showed zero students for the paper until Friday evening, leaving officials unaware of the scheduled examination. The revised list, they said, surfaced only minutes before the 9.30am paper, leaving little time for preparation.Centre authorities emphasised that attendance records and seating data must be shared at least 24 hours in advance to facilitate essential arrangements such as preparing examination halls, printing question papers, and ensuring basic amenities like coolers and drinking water.Officials admitted they were fortunate that only around 40 students reported for the paper, which helped avert a larger disruption. They also pointed out that hall tickets, issued barely a day earlier, contained errors and did not mention Saturday’s examination.“We verified the students’ names against the attendance sheets received in the morning, which confirmed the Political Communication paper. After cross-checking with their college authorities, we allowed them to appear for the examination. The discrepancies in the hall tickets can be corrected later,” an official said.However, NU’s examination section denied receiving any complaints about missing attendance sheets. Officials also noted that the same centre had earlier flagged issues involving BSc Data Science students, who were wrongly assigned to the Ambedkar College centre instead of a neighbouring management institute.Despite the confusion, the examination eventually began after a delay of around five minutes, which was later compensated.In a separate incident, a sixth-semester BA LLB student raised concerns over poor conditions at the centre, citing inadequate ventilation and the absence of promised cooling facilities. “There is no proper ventilation, and the coolers were not available,” the student alleged.Centre authorities acknowledged the complaint but maintained that an alternative air-conditioned room had been offered and declined. “The fan in the allotted room was under repair. The student repeatedly asked about coolers and cold drinking water. We offered another room, but he chose to remain in the same one,” they said.
