Special entry: BOPEE issues an admit card to a cow to appear for an entrance test to be held on May 10
Imagine a cow aspiring to be an engineer. Well that is possible in Jammu and Kashmir, as Jammu and Kashmir Board of Professional Entrance Examination (BOPEE) has created a history of sorts by issuing an admit card to a cow for the `diploma in polytechnic' test in the state.
For the records she is not an ordinary cow. Her name is Kachir Gaw (blonde cow) daughter of Gura Dand (big bull). She has to appear for the entrance test to be held at Government Degree College Bemina in Srinagar on May 10.
This year the admission form for the entrance test was to be submitted online. And one of the applicants was Kachir Gaw. Surprisingly nobody was bothered to verify the credentials even as the applicant had also uploaded the picture of a cow on the form. Worst, the authorities issued the admit card also with picture of the cow.
The issue has taken a political overtones with premier opposition party National Conference gunning for the new Jammu and Kashmir education minister and chief spokesman of People's Democratic Party Naeem Akthar for the goof-up.
"The J&K Board of Professional Entrance Examinations issued this roll-number slip to a Cow after due verification… Naeem Akhtar has some explaining to do. New benchmark of progress in Education Sector under him - COWS getting roll no slips," tweeted Junaid Mattu, spokesman of the National Conference.
It was however former chief minister Omar Abdullah who took the humour to a new level by wishing that cow actually had turned up for the exams. "Brilliant. I wish Kachir Gaw had turned up for the examination," tweeted Omar.
Red-faced by the goof-up, Jammu and Kashmir BOPEE has initiated investigation to track down the "man or woman" who has played "mischief by submitting the form in the name of cow and uploading its picture too".
"To begin with we have in fact come to know through his IP address that the candidate is from a particular locality. We are trying to identify other credentials to move forward. He has made payment and he has given his phone number also. We are basically checking all these details. Once we are through and able to nab him, quite naturally other things will follow," Farooq Ahmad Mir, controller of examination, BOPEE, told dna.
Mir noted that BOPEE has outsourced the process of submitting the application form and issuing admit cards and examination centers to a third party on which they have no access whatsoever.
"From this year onwards we have made application forms online. Students submit their online application forms and the data goes to particular dump on which we do not have any control. That is a third party. It allots roll numbers, centers, sends sms, asks students to download admit cards and the process goes on," said Mir.
BOPEE controller noted that the candidate has played mischief and he shall have to face the consequences.
"Two possibilities are there. Either he has played the mischief by morphing the image which is quite possible nowadays. Or he has uploaded photograph on his own. Instead of uploading his own photograph he has uploaded photograph (of a cow)… Ultimately the responsibility will be fixed with the candidate. Once we will able to track him down and identify him, he will have to face the consequences," said Mir.
BOPEE has been in the news for all wrong reasons a few years back after a common entrance examination paper leak scandal rocked the state. Several top officers including the then chairman of the board, students and touts were arrested by the police.
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