17 Out Of Top 24 Scorers From Same Centre In CMAT 2018; Students Raise Questions

The Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) 2018 held on 20 January this year has raised suspicions among students as 17 out of the 24 top scorers belong to the same centre.

The exam conducted by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), under the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD), was held across 75 cities at 177 centres however, 70% of the toppers took the exam from the same centre – Gurugram’s DPG Institute of Technology and Management. Among the top 10 students, 7 are from this particular centre.

More than 64,000 students appeared for CMAT 2018. Disappointed with the results, aspirants have taken to social media to make themselves heard.

In this year's CMAT exam, 17 of the top 24 toppers are from the same exam center.

HRD ministry denies any foul play, but what are the chances that 17 toppers wrote the exam in the same building when there were hundreds of different exam centers all over India?#CMAT2018

— Dhruv Rathee (@dhruv_rathee) February 25, 2018

@aicte @PrakashJavdekar @narendramodi @republic @ndtv @IndiaToday @TimesNow @AsYouNotWish sir there's been a suspected case of mass cheating during cmat 2018, request you to look into the matter, scrap the exam, make provision for reexam, future of thousands of students at stake pic.twitter.com/RTN7HWCsI0

— Meeran Shaikh (@MeeranShaikh4) February 18, 2018

There's major conspiracy in #cmat2018.From marks to ranks to mass copy.. everything needed to be evaluated again.@AICTE_INDIA @PMOIndia @HRDMinistry @ndtv @republic @IndiaToday @ZeeNews #CMAT2018 #cmat#cheating pic.twitter.com/rQtjZ9e3Xa

— Surbhi Solanki (@So_lucky_Surbhi) February 18, 2018

This is a gross misconduct and betrayel of trust from CMAT, 17 out of top 25 candidates from CMAT 2018 exam are from same centre!!!! Outrageous. Please look into the issue as soon as possible.@AICTE_INDIA @PrakashJavdekar @narendramodi @nsui @Republic @aajtak @ZeeNews pic.twitter.com/rKohHoLive

— Aditya (@Aditya91167837) February 18, 2018

I am candidate of CMAT 2018 and got 0 marks which is not possible as my exam was very good and i also verified with answers released by aicte.There was a technical issue while submitting answers.
I have mailed to official email id of aicte but didn't get any reply @AICTE_INDIA pic.twitter.com/PjhEHmg0Vr

— Mahesh Margam (@mahimargamrocks) February 19, 2018

Students’ statements

The Logical Indian spoke to students who reached out to us via e-mail. One of the aspirants Suhag Wamza who scored 98.46 percentile questioned, “How is it possible that out of 64,000 students, 17 of the top 20 from all over India are from the exact same centre?”

Suhag also expressed his suspicions on the marks obtained by these toppers in general awareness. “The top 17 have got only two marks – 75 and 80 out of 100. Most people don’t score such high marks in general awareness. I scored a 97 percentile in GA and my marks were 36. Even the person who scored 99.29 percentile got 45 marks,” he added.

“My All India Rank (AIR) is 995 and my overall percentile is 98.46. Had these inaccuracies not occurred, I would’ve been among the 99 percentile scorers and my chances of getting admission for MMS courses in Maharashtra colleges would’ve increased,” he said.

“JBIMS (Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai), which is regarded as one of the most reputed colleges under CMAT, had the cut off of AIR 26 last year. If undeserving candidates are given top scores, they will get admission to India’s top colleges thereby, degrading the quality of education,” continued Suhag.

Suhag also informed that CMAT 2018 results were declared twice. On February 13, the website said that the page was hacked and the result declared was fake. After two days, the AICTE declared the original result. “Although the aggregate percentile was the same both times,” he said.

Suhag has mailed his concerns to the AICTE and the HRD ministry however, he is yet to receive a reply.

Another aspirant Meet Unadkat who has an AIR of 122 said to The Logical Indian, “When you see such a visible pattern of an unfair exam, it makes you wonder about other invisible patterns. For an all India (OMS – Other than Maharashtra State) student to get a seat in JBIMS, SIMSREE or KJ SOM, is merely a dream.”

Out of 64500 in Cmat exam 17 out of top 20 are of the same centre and scoring 75 and 80 in gk while at 45 marks 99.3 %ile is achieved. This is a clear case of cheating. @republic @PrakashJavdekar @narendramodi @timesofindia @aajtak @Parikshitl @nsui @ABVPVoice pic.twitter.com/FIgOa8lncD

— Meet unadkat (@meetunadkat7) February 18, 2018

The Logical Indian take

The Logical Indian tried to contact the AICTE however, we were told that the official responsible for overlooking CMAT and issues related with the exam was on leave. We shall try again tomorrow to get a comment from the government body.

However, The Quint reported that the AICTE has vehemently denied the possibility of any foul play. The AICTE Chairman Anil Sahasrabudhe told the media house, “Those who answered correctly has done well. If someone else has gone to the same coaching centre and they know all the answers, how do I know? There has been strict invigilation at all the centres. We have camera recordings of the same.”

Sahasrabudhe made the statement without any investigation.

The students’ speculation may or may not turn out to be true. This may or may not be a case of nepotism or foul play but a case of cheating, or simply a ‘coincidence’. However, reaching to any of these conclusions requires an independent probe.

While nothing can be irrefutably said about what transpired at DPG Institute of Technology and Management, Gurugram on the day of CMAT 2018, the results do point out a leery pattern. The only possible solution is an investigation.