CAT Scam: Who’s behind the 'inflated scorecards’?

Ipsita Sarkar Gupta

The layers of facts underlying the inflated Common Admission Test (CAT) scores scam are being unearthed slowly. According to latest reports, the centre of the scandal lies amidst the Lucknow-based online solution provider firm Web Weavers.

Last Wednesday (June 26, 2013), shiksha.com found out that one of the key accused escaped from the city. Later, police reports confirmed these facts. The investigation team further found that apart from Web Weavers, three CAT exam takers from Lucknow are involved in the tampering of CAT 2012 results. It also looks like both the CAT and NMAT scams are related at some point, as reported by an online forum.

So far, the IIMs have sent the original list of scores for the 80 candidates (with tampered scores) to various non-IIMs. According to information available to shiksha.com from inside sources, FMS has given admission to four students, and BIMTECH to one student. Both have terminated the admissions. While IMT Ghaziabad director Bibek Banerjee confirmed that some students with inflated scores have been admitted, but refused to reveal the number. They are yet to take a decision on the fate of the concerned students.

MHRD has set up an enquiry committee to investigate the matter.

[Previous Updates]

In a stunning revelation by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), it has been disclosed that the Common Admission Test (CAT) score cards of ‘80 examinees have been tampered/altered, resulting in inflation of scores for these examinees.’ Will this raise concerns over the credibility of CAT scores being used for B-school admissions?

The master database of the scores received from test services provider Prometric is intact. “The rest of the examinees’ scores on the website www.catiim.in were found to be intact and matching with the master database received from Prometric,” stated the release. The matter came into limelight after an anonymous caller tipped off the authorities that the scores of 80 candidates are not in sync with the scores in the master database. Since the 80 test IDs are not in any series, it is not a technological glitch.

Out of the 80 candidates, seven had applied to BIMTECH, while one took admission. The institute has asked for a formal confirmation of the candidate’s scores from IIM Kozhikode (IIM-K), post which a decision on admission status will be taken. According to sources, two other candidates have taken admission in Faculty of Management Studies (FMS). The institute is yet to confirm it.

Meanwhile, speaking on the development, current CAT convenor Prof Rohit Kumar informed that CAT 2012 convenor Prof SSS Kumar has already filed a police complaint on June 15 against Web Weavers, the company which managed and hosted the CAT website. “We have informed the non-IIMs and posted the 80 IDs on our websites. The matter is under investigation.” On enquiring if the credibility of CAT exam is under the cloud, he replied, “The fact that we reported the matter, proves that our process is good and stable. There should be no question about losing credibility.”

The non-IIMs, however, are fuming over this development. “This is a complete insult to the non-IIMs and their admission process. Despite the claims of CAT convenors, no one had informed us about this. We came to know about it through media and other public domains. The issue could have been averted 15 days ago,” said Dr Harivansh Chaturvedi, director, Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH) and former AICTE director.

Reiterating the same fact, Professor M H Bala Subrahmanya, chairman, Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Science, said, “We have not received any formal communication about this issue. But we are aware of it.”

“The casual attitude of IIMs is a matter of worry for us. What has happened to us can happen to IAS, JEE and other premier tests. It is the duty of IIM Kozikode and Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to unearth the whole nexus and inform us. After the NMAT fiasco, CAT should have taken extra care,” Dr Chaturvedi added.

However, Prof Subrahmanya opines that such things will not affect the credibility of CAT exam.

According to information available to Shiksha.com, rumours about inflated CAT scores were already doing rounds for some time. However, when few institute directors contacted the CAT 2012 convenor two days ago, Prof Kumar vehemently denied the rumours. Interestingly, the police report had already been filed ten days ago (on June 15) clearly reflecting the IIMs effort to hide the fact.

The matter has reached the MHRD and an inquiry committee will be set up shortly. At the time of filing the story, Prof SSS Kumar has not yet replied to Shiksha.com’s mail. We further contacted IIM Kozhikode's director Professor Debashis Chatterjee on Thursday, who replied, "I am not aware of any such developments."

"Why no IIMs admitted any of these 80 candidates?" ask non-IIMs directors. Read more here.

‘IDs of candidates where discrepancies in scores were observed as on 14.6.2013’