RTMNU Nagpur University exams plagued by delays, result errors; chaos disrupts academic schedule, internships

RTMNU Nagpur University Exams: “Whenever I checked my result, the portal showed my roll number as invalid and asked me to contact the college for further details,” said Lavannya Ingle, in second year of BA Economics (major) at Hislop College, Nagpur. Ingle waited nearly two weeks after Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University (RTMNU) declared semester results to get her scores. When she finally did on May 25, the marksheet was incomplete and full of errors. “One subject was marked ‘WH’ (withheld), my SGPA was missing, and even the total marks weren’t displayed,” she said.

Ingle is among hundreds of students from colleges affiliated to RTMNU who complain of delays, missing marks, defective hall tickets, withheld results, and general administrative mismanagement and confusion in the university’s examination system. So dysfunctional has Nagpur University’s exam system become that the Bombay High Court recently pulled up the university for it.

Students, senate members, university staff and student activists told Academia360 that RTMNU’s examination problems have intensified in recent years due to delays, outsourcing issues, technical failures, and poor coordination between the university and affiliated colleges.

“Our examinations were conducted very late and the results were delayed far beyond the expected timeline. Even after the results were declared, nearly half the students in our batch did not receive them,” said a second-year BA Psychology (major) student, also of Hislop College, requesting anonymity. “We collectively submitted multiple complaints to the college administration, university authorities, and even the office of the joint director, but we never received any proper response or official clarification regarding the status of our results.” RTMNU Nagpur has close to 530 affiliated colleges.

RTMNU Nagpur University result delays, errors

The psychology student said that many of their classmates were unable to access complete marks even after the results were declared. “For many students, internal marks were missing, while for others, external marks were not uploaded. Subjects such as Marathi and English literature showed incomplete records for entire groups of students.”

Email addresses listed on the RTMNU Nagpur website for reporting grievances and seeking redress were either inactive or no one bothered to respond. “We were unable to get any direct clarification from the examination authorities,” the student said.

Tanvi Sharma, a second-year BA Psychology student from the same college, said she is still waiting for her third semester result months after examinations concluded in January 2026.

According to Sharma, college authorities checked the university portal through official systems, but the issue remained unresolved. “Teachers told us they could see the results of other students and colleges, but for some of us, the roll numbers were still not appearing on official systems,” she said. Students have simply been asked to wait. “They keep saying that the results will come soon.”

The delays have disrupted other processes and schedules. “The last date to fill backlog forms is May 28, but if I still don’t know my actual result, how am I supposed to apply?” she asked, referring to supplementary exams.

Dev Kyawal, BA-LLB student of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar School of Law (BACL Nagpur), said exam and result delays disrupted academic schedules and internships for law students across law colleges affiliated to RTMNU. “Our seventh semester examinations ended in January, so the results should ideally have been declared within 45 days, around March. But the results came in May,” he said. This had a cascading effect on other semesters and activities that are now part of legal training, such as law internships.

“Because of the delay, the entire academic cycle gets pushed back,” he said. “Law students usually do internships during summer vacations, mostly in May. But when examinations get postponed, students either lose internship opportunities or have to manage both together.”

RTMNU Nagpur University: ‘System ruined’

A senior research assistant at the university, speaking on condition of anonymity due to fear of losing her job, said, “For the last three to four years, the education system at the university has been completely ruined.”

According to her, admissions that earlier ended by June now continue till August or September, leaving students with only two-three months to complete a six-month syllabus.

The staff member also said students from affiliated colleges often struggle due to poor guidance from institutions. “Students come from places like Kamptee, Hingna, and Ramtek because colleges do not properly guide them. They are sent from one office to another. The administration focuses more on events and publicity than student issues,” she said.

Data transfer issues derail RTMNU exams

Several stakeholders alleged the crisis was linked to the university’s shift from the earlier examination agency, Promarc, to a new agency, COEMPT Eduteck, incidentally the same company in the spot over the Central Board of Secondary Education's CBSE OSM portal security controversy.

Nitin Kongre, senate member and head of the department of chemistry at Jawaharlal Nehru Arts, Commerce and Science College, Wadi, said delays began after student data was not properly transferred between agencies. “Because of this, exam forms, hall tickets, and timetables were delayed, which eventually collapsed the entire schedule,” he said.

Kongre said that although most results have now been declared, many students are still waiting for marksheets and corrected records. “There are problems in the TR [tabulation register] sheets and internal records. Some internal marks are missing, some theory marks are not displayed, and in some cases marks are mismatched,” he alleged.

He also pointed out that hall tickets often carried errors such as wrong names, subjects, or exam centres, causing last-minute difficulties.

Gauri Bharti, president of the National Students’ Union of India unit at RTMNU, also blamed delays in data transfer and agency-related issues for the chaos.

Bharti alleged that the evaluation process remains controversial. “There are concerns that answer sheets are not properly checked and the evaluation process has been problematic for years,” she said.

She added that with nearly 530 affiliated colleges, even small delays affect thousands of students.

RTMNU Results 2026: ‘Serious errors in marksheets’

Manmohan Bajpai, senate member, said there are thousands of serious errors in the university-issued marksheets and examination records for 2026.

He said the errors include BCom (audit subject) marks appearing in BSc science marksheets, students being shown as having failed despite passing, and some being marked absent. “In some cases, entire classes have been marked ‘failed’. For example, all students of a B.Tech Computer Science third semester class were shown as having ‘failed’. In another case, 42 out of 60 students in the seventh semester of B.Tech Computer Science were marked ‘withheld’,” he said.

He added that internal marks are often missing from TR sheets, forcing repeated corrections. In some cases, students are shown double subjects, increasing examination fees and causing financial burden.

Bajpai also said examination centres often lack basic facilities. “In many centres, there are no fans or proper arrangements, even during summer examinations,” he said.

Repeated complaints, including ones to the Vice-Chancellor, haven’t led to much action.

RTMNU outsourcing culprit

Shilvant Mishram, a former senate member who continues to follow university affairs closely, said the core issue lies in the tender-based outsourcing system. “Companies are repeatedly given tenders, but accountability is weak. If results are delayed beyond 45 days, there are no serious consequences,” he said.

He added that examination errors, including wrong question papers for backlog students, have persisted for years. “These mistakes affect competitive exam aspirants the most,” he said.

Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party, submitted a 20-point memorandum to the pro-vice-chancellor Akhilesh Peshwe last week, flagging a range of examination and administrative issues. The group also staged a protest at Nagpur University over these concerns and alleged they were not granted a meeting with the vice-chancellor, Manali Kshirsagar.

The memorandum raised issues such as delays in examination timetables and admit cards, discrepancies between online results and mark sheets, and delays in the release of “Withheld” results along with TR (Tabulation Register) records. It also pointed to recurring technical errors in admit cards, including wrong roll numbers and mismatched details.

Among other demands were the setting up of student help centres for those from remote areas, timely declaration of revaluation results, and fixing responsibility for internal marks. BJYM also demanded that no two examination papers be scheduled on the same day, along with clearer guidelines for answer sheet evaluation and teacher assessment. It further sought timely declaration of results from autonomous departments.

Sachin Karare, BJYM Nagpur city president who led the protest, said the organisation had given a four-day ultimatum to the administration. “They have failed to act on it. Now we are planning a large-scale protest on Friday,” he said.

RTMNU exams in extreme heat

Students also raised concerns over examinations being conducted during extremely-hot summer afternoons and alleged that many centres do not even have fans.

Gurleenkaur Chhabda, a psychology undergraduate at RTMNU, criticised the university for conducting examinations during peak afternoon heat despite heatwave warnings in Nagpur.

In a LinkedIn post, Chhabda pointed out that examinations were being held from 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm, calling it “the absolute hottest hours of the day.”

Referring to an extreme heat alert issued for Nagpur and nearby districts, she questioned why the university continued with afternoon examinations despite severe weather conditions.

Nagpur University response

Kshirsagar, speaking at a press conference on May 22, admitted that Nagpur University faced difficulties after appointing a new examination agency before the winter examinations.

“The new company was appointed on October 18, 2025, just before the winter examinations, and it took time to understand and adapt to the university’s examination system. The transition became more difficult because the previous agency did not properly hand over the soft-copy [of] student data, and the university also did not have the complete records available. As a result, the new agency had to manually re-enter data of lakhs of students, which caused significant delays,” she said.

Kshirsagar said the university is now closely monitoring the examination and result process to avoid delays and irregularities in upcoming exams. She also announced that from next year, examinations will be conducted in the morning instead of the afternoon, keeping in mind the heat and that the university plans to increase the number of examination centres to avoid holding exams in multiple shifts.

Currently, examinations are being held in two shifts, from 9 am to 12 pm and from 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm.

“We are working with awareness and responsibility. Many errors also occur at the college level, because of which the university comes under scrutiny,” she added.