Mumbai: A reply to a Right to Information (RTI) application filed by a University of Mumbai (MU) student regarding the amount spent on revaluation every year revealed that professors have been paid Rs 6.19 crore and Rs 6.58 crore to assess revaluation papers in the academic years 2016-17 and 2017-18 respectively. Meanwhile, in this academic year — 2018-19 — which has not yet ended, MU has already paid Rs 2.72 crore to professors, revealed the RTI response.

Shomit Salunkhe, an MPhil student, had sought to learn the amount MU is collecting from revaluation and how much teachers are getting paid for assessing these papers. On December 14, The Asian Age had reported how revaluation applications have been on the rise since the past few years.

As per figures obtained by the examination department of MU, it was found that it received 60,712 applications in October 2017, which further increased to 76,828 in May 2018. According to the RTI reply, in the academic year 2016-17, MU earned Rs 5,29,76,240 while in the year 2017-18 it collected a total of Rs 3,49,64,073 from revaluation applications. The amount for this academic year is not available as the year is yet to be completed.

Teachers are paid Rs 25 per paper to assess revaluation papers while they get Rs 15 to 16 per paper for first-time assessment. The RTI further revealed that in 2017-18, the total expenditure of MU was Rs 116 crore. “Looking at the total expenditure and the amount MU has given its teachers in the same academic year (Rs 6,58,14,845) for revaluation, it means almost seven to eight per cent has been spent on just correcting papers the second time,” Mr Salunkhe stated.

Students opt for revaluation when they are not satisfied with the marks they have obtained. As per MU officials, 99 per cent of students’ marks is increased after revaluation while only 0.1 per cent of students’ marks are decreased. According to sources close to the varsity, first-time assessment is done in a casual manner while there is extra concentration while assessing during revaluation. The reason for the same is while assessing papers the first time, the answer papers are in bulk while papers are individually assessed during revaluation.