CA Students' protest: Massive social media furore, aspirants want ICAI President to speak up
Hundreds of students are protesting against the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) demanding re-evaluation of their answer sheets. CA Students are holding protests outside ICAI Office in ITO, Delhi. Protests are taking place throughout India, including Durgapur, Siliguri, Bhilwara, Hyderabad and Jaipur. CA students are demanding better transparency in the paper evaluation process. A massive social media furore has also erupted where CA students are questioning ICAI President Prafulla Chhajed over his silence.
Why are CA Students out on roads against ICAI:
CA students ate demanding right to seek re-evaluation of answer shets, supply of the question booklet and answer papers on request, penalty for wrong evaluation of the answer-sheet, permission darken circles on OMR (optical mark recognition) sheets in examinations with pens and centralised evaluation of papers.
CA students are alleging that pencil marks get erased during the transportation and handling of answer-sheets, and that ICAI provides only copies of descriptive answers and not those of multiple choice questions (MCQs).
Chartered Accountancy students/aspirants have long been raising certain issues. However, the protests gained momentum when CA students noticed discrepancies in answer papers, copies of which were obtained from the ICAI. As alleged, in some cases marks were not awarded for correct answers. In other cases, number on the result card were lower than that was written on answer-sheets.
Thus, CA students are demanding amendment to Regulation 39(4) of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949. According to this regulation, students cannot demand revaluation of their answers by the ICAI. All they can avail is re-totalling of marks. They cannot even question the merit of not awarding numbers for a particular answer.
Under pressure ICAI did announce some reforms in evaluation of answer-sheets on September 1. But they were termed vague and non transparent.
ICAI President Prafulla Chhajed faces social media fury:
CA students and aspirants are angry. They want ICAI to come out clean over the entire issue. ICAI President Prafulla Chhajed is being questioned. Social media is full of angry CA students demanding justice. On Wednesday night, #icaipresidentmissing was no. 1 trending topic in India on Twitter.
Here is how CA students have stormed Twitter:
"Please help #icaipresidentmissing ..if some one finds him pls mail at. verificationfinal@icai.in. his family is worried ....#dearicaiammend39_4 #dearicaipleasechange ", a twitter user wrote.
#DearICAIAmend39_4 , #dearicaiplschange were among the other hashtags students used to express their anger against ICAI.
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