Gujarat Education Board "sets aside" SC order, has no provision for RTI plea for copies of answer sheets: MAGP

By A Representative
The Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board, which declared science stream results on May 12, wants those seeking copy of the corrected answer sheets to apply online, pay Rs 300 per answer sheet, allegedly in complete in violation of a Supreme Court order, which allows students to obtain it through a Right to Information (RTI) plea within 48 hours.
Taking strong exception to the Board move, Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP), the state’s premier Right to Information (RTI) NGO, has asked it to follow the Supreme Court judgment of 2011 (SCA 6454/2011) which said that the “answer sheet” falls within the definition of information, and every student has right to seek a copy of the her/his answer sheet “within 48 hours of filing RTI application as per section 7(1) of RTI Act.”
The RTI Act’s section 7(1) wants the information, if it concerns the life or liberty of a person, to be provided within 48 hours of the receipt of the application.
In its letter to the Board, MAGP says, as the Board website does not show RTI link and details of public information officers (PIOs), it needs to clarify how it going to the implement RTI Act. The letter wants the Board to make immediate corrections on its website.
MAGP’s letter to the Board follows several calls it received on the RTI helpline (9924085000) from students and parents, who, it says, complained that “there is no citizen-friendly mechanism for accepting RTI application at the Board office at Gandhinagar.”
Worse, adds MAGP, “Their websites also not showing RTI link and names of PIOs and appellate authorities, as required under Section 4 of the RTI Act.”
Simultaneously, taking into cognizance the fact that the matter concerns the future of students, MAGP has filed a complaint the Gujarat State Information Commission (SIC), the state’s RTI watchdog, under section 18 of RTI Act, which allows an SIC to receive and inquire into a grievance urgently.
MAGP, in a statement, insists, answer sheets do not “fall in the category of fiduciary relationship” and the RTI Act has “the overriding effect over any other rules that exist for preventing information to be disclosed or rules for providing information.”
“The Board is expected to declare by issuing a press note that RTI applications will be received and certified copies of the answer sheets will be provided. The provisions of checking OMR or answer sheets cannot restrict a student’s right to seek certified copy”, Harinesh Pandya of MAGP insists.
“The charge for seeking answer sheet is Rs 2 per page as per provisions of the RTI Act. The Board cannot decide the timeline, procedure and unreasonable prices contravene to the Act”, he adds.
Pankti Jog, who handles RTI helpline, says, “We appeal to students to file RTI application on a stamp paper, or with through court fee/revenue stamp, or by paying Rs 20 in cash on a plain paper. The PIO of the Board should furnish copy or respond within eight hours.”
“Our helpline will help students to file RTI applications. If they do not get response, student can file complaint to Gujarat Information Commission”, she adds.

Comments

Was Netaji forced to alter face, die in obscurity in USSR in 1975? Was he so meek?

By Rajiv Shah This should sound almost hilarious. Not only did Subhas Chandra Bose not die in a plane crash in Taipei, nor was he the mysterious Gumnami Baba who reportedly passed away on 16 September 1985 in Ayodhya, but we are now told that he actually died in 1975—date unknown—“in oblivion” somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Which city? Moscow? No one seems to know.

Love letters in a lifelong war: Babusha Kohli’s resistance in verse

By Ravi Ranjan* “War does not determine who is right—only who is left.” Bertrand Russell’s words echo hauntingly in our times, and few contemporary Hindi poets embody this truth as profoundly as Babusha Kohli. Emerging from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Kohli has carved a unique space in literature by weaving together tenderness, protest, and philosophy across poetry, prose, and cinema. Her work is not merely artistic expression—it is resistance, refuge, and a call for peace.

Asbestos contamination in children’s products highlights global oversight gaps

By A Representative A commentary published by the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) has drawn attention to the challenges governments face in responding effectively to global public-health risks. In an article written by Laurie Kazan-Allen and published on March 5, 2026, the author examines how the discovery of asbestos contamination in children’s play products has raised questions about regulatory oversight and international product safety. The article opens by reflecting on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that governments in several countries were slow to respond to early warning signs of the crisis. Referring to the experience of the United Kingdom, the author writes that delays in implementing protective measures contributed to “232,112 recorded deaths and over a million people suffering from long Covid.” The commentary uses this example to illustrate what it describes as the dangers of underestimating emerging threats. Attention then turns...

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

India’s green energy push faces talent crunch amidst record growth at 16% CAGR

By Jag Jivan* A new study by a top consulting firm has found that India’s cleantech sector is entering a decisive growth phase, with strong policy backing, record capacity additions and surging investor interest, but facing mounting pressure on talent supply and rising compensation costs .

The kitchen as prison: A feminist elegy for domestic slavery

By Garima Srivastava* Kumar Ambuj stands as one of the most incisive voices in contemporary Hindi poetry. His work, stripped of ornamentation, speaks directly to the lived realities of India’s marginalized—women, the rural poor, and those crushed under invisible forms of violence. His celebrated poem “Women Who Cook” (Khānā Banātī Striyāṃ) is not merely about food preparation; it is a searing indictment of patriarchal domestic structures that reduce women’s existence to endless, unpaid labour.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Beyond sattvik: Purity, caste and the politics of the Indian kitchen

By Rajiv Shah A few week ago, I was forwarded an article that appeared in the British weekly The Economist . Titled “Caste and cuisine: From honeycomb curry to blood fry: India’s ‘untouchable’ cooking”, it took me back to what I had blogged about what was called a “ sattvik food festival”, an annual event organised by former Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad professor Anil Gupta.

The price of silence: Why Modi won’t follow Shastri, appeal for sacrifice

By Arundhati Dhuru, Sandeep Pandey* In 1965, as India grappled with war and a crippling food crisis, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri faced a United States that used wheat shipments under the PL-480 agreement as a lever to dictate Indian foreign policy. Shastri’s response remains legendary: he appealed to the nation to skip one meal a day. Millions of middle-class households complied, choosing temporary hunger over the sacrifice of national dignity. Today, India faces a modern equivalent in the energy sector, yet the leadership’s response stands in stark contrast to that era of self-reliance.

Search This Blog