.
NEW DELHI: Question papers of several subjects in Ignou’s ongoing June-July 2026 term-end exams were allegedly on sale on Telegram, prompting university headquarters to formally alert regional centres across the country about touts selling papers for Rs 199, though no paper has been cancelled so far, TOI has learned. The university said it found no evidence of a leak, reports Sugandha Jha.Meanwhile, centres across the country were allegedly given the wrong question paper for a PG exam. In a communication to regional directors on June 4, university’s student evaluation division said it had received complaints from learners regarding individuals claiming to possess question papers and offering them for sale online.No centre conducted exam with wrong paper: IgnouThe communication also attached screenshots of chats in which question papers were allegedly being shared and sold.“The official has received an email dated June 3 from Ignou learners. The mail raises a serious concern regarding widespread claims circulating on the Telegram channel, wherein certain individuals are allegedly charging money and promising question papers. In order to avoid such complaints, you are requested to direct your examination centre superintendents to follow the instructions carefully,” the email read. One such email, received by several students on June 3 and seen by TOI, claimed that question papers for macro economics analysis and other subjects could be obtained through a Telegram channel for Rs 199 per subject. The sender instructed recipients not to share the papers further, warning that doing so could lead to cancellation of the exam, and claimed to have access to question papers up to two hours before the exam. The message also offered to provide solutions along with the papers, where possible.In its response to TOI, the university said a complaint about question papers on sale was immediately referred to police. There was no immediate response from cops.“As of date, no information regarding any alleged question paper leakage has been received from any regional centre, examination centre, or any other reliable source. Therefore, there is no evidence at present to substantiate the claim of a question paper leak, hence constituting an inquiry committee does not arise,” it said.However, faculty members said the university intimated all its regional centres asking to beef up security measures due to the suspected breach.The university said it’s investigation found the allegations as “baseless”, hence the papers were not cancelled. All centres were directed to tighten security arrangements, deploy observers, restrict the use of mobile phones by staff, prevent unauthorised access to venues and ensure that confidential question papers remain under the personal custody of centre superintendents.Ignou’s June-July term-end exams for UG and PG students are under way from June 1 to July 21. University officials said around nine lakh students are appearing at over 900 exam centres covering nearly 2,000 courses.According to the university datesheet, examinations are being conducted in two daily sessions—morning (10am to 1pm) and evening (2pm to 5pm). However, information regarding exactly which subjects or courses may have been affected by the alleged leak between June 1 and June 4 was not immediately clear.The leak allegations come amid another examination-related lapse. On June 9, centres were allegedly given wrong question paper for a master’s-level exam. In a communication issued at 10.27am—after the morning session started at 10am—the university instructed centres not to use the paper that had been dispatched and instead download the correct paper through its portal.Teachers alleged that the delay in communication resulted in some centres conducting the examination using the wrong paper before the correction reached them.Responding to queries regarding the incident, Ignou said the wrongly dispatched paper was discarded and replaced with the correct paper before the examination was conducted. The university said around 200 examination centres had received the incorrect paper but maintained that no centre conducted the examination with it.
