Haryana board reissues results after goofup

In an embarrassing gaffe, the Haryana Board of School Education on Monday released an incorrect merit list for the class X examination conducted by it, which it had to rectify later. Two employees were suspended for the goof-up, which authorities said had occurred due to a computer glitch. During the day, the HBSE initially declared Monika Rani of Senior Model High School, Bhirdana, Fatehabad as the topper having secured 493 marks out of the total 500. However, later in the evening, it was clarified that Rani had secured a creditable fifth position while Yudhvir, a student of a school in the Sirsa district was the topper.

The Haryana Education Board declared an incorrect merit list on Monday evening, inadvertently playing a cruel joke on three girls from Fatehabad district.

According to the results declared around 4 pm, Monika Rani from Bhirdana village had topped the state by scoring 493 out of 500 marks. Three hours later, her world seemed to come crashing down. The education board issued a new list, which had a boy – Yudhveer Singh from Sirsa district’s Lehranwali village – occupying the top position with 499 marks.

The initial list had also granted the joint third position to Sakshi Karwasra, the daughter of a school bus driver in Bhutankalan village, and Anjali, a resident of Tohana town, with 490 out of 500 marks. Sadly, their names did not occupy positions of prominence in the rectified list either.

Monika, who wants to become a neurologist, refused to comment on the matter. Her father, however, could not hide his disappointment. “They played a joke on us,” said Het Ram, a farmer.

Yudhveer’s father was happy, though he would have preferred a more straight-forward academic victory for his son. “I am proud of Yudhveer’s performance, but we also feel sad for the three girls who were made to face such disappointment for no fault of theirs,” said Jasbir Singh, also an agriculturist.

The family of the meritorious student said he had toiled hard for the distinction. “Yudhveer is a hard worker and a bright student. He used to study for more than eight hours a day,” said his mother, Sarbjeet Kaur.

Yudhveer, a student of the VN Senior Secondary School, said his ambition was to become a pilot.

The parents of neither Sakshi nor Anjali were available for comment. However, Sakshi said she would get her answer sheet reevaluated.

The technical glitch has not caused embarrassment to the board for the first time. Last year, due to some technical problem in the software, students of Class 12 were left waiting by the board when it did not declare result on the pre-announced date.

I am proud of Yudhveer’s performance, but we also feel sad for the three girls who were made to face such disappointment for no fault of theirs JASBIR SINGH, agriculturist