AP minister quits owning moral responsibility for paper leakage

Andhra Pradesh Higher Education Minister G M C Balayogi on Friday resigned from the state cabinet, owning moral responsibility for the leakage of the question papers which led to cancellation of the intermediate examinations in the state on Thursday.

Balayogi told reporters he was faxing his resignation letter to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who is away in New Delhi.

Regretting the inconvenience caused to the students because of the cancellation of the both the first and final year intermediate examinations, he said the dates of the rescheduled examinations would be announced in a day or two. They would be completed by May end, he added.

Balayogi said the main culprit, Ramaraju, was arrested at Narasaraopeta in Guntur district on Friday morning. Ramaraju, a mathematics lecturer of the Government Junior College at Vellalacheruvu in Prakasam district had sold the question papers to tutorials in different towns in the state. He had offered each set for Rs 1.5 million while those arrested told the police that they had paid Rs 100,000 for each question paper. Ten people had been arrested in this connection.

The minister said he was resigning on moral grounds "though I am technically not responsible for it… My decision is final." Balayogi said, adding that the state government is investigating the case and has already suspended the controller of examinations of intermediate board.