State move to rake in Rs 1.4cr on SSC results

The Directorate of Government Examinations hopes to cash in on the anxieties of SSC students by increasing the tariff for interactive voice response system (IVRS) calls announcing their marks to Rs 10 from the present rate of Re 1.

It has asked the service provider, BSNL, to increase the tariff for the calls and has also sought a share of 25 per cent of the revenue it gets for providing roll number-wise SSC marks to students through IVRS. SSC results are scheduled to be announced in the last week of this month.

The DGE has also proposed a revenue sharing model under which the BSNL will get Rs 5 and the remaining Rs 5 will be shared by it and the private computer firm hired for supplying hardware and software.

The DGE’s thirst for profit has evoked resentment as the SSC board is supposed to provide information on marks to students free since it has already collected examination fee from them.

Around 14 lakh students appeared for SSC examinations this year, and this means the DGE can hope to make a cool Rs 35 lakh. The computer firm will earn another Rs 35 lakh while BSNL will get Rs 70 lakh.