A copy of the controversial Preventive and Social Medicine paper available with Express Newsline would belie the VC's contention that the paper was ``tough.'' To make good the tough paper Snehalata Deshmukh had permitted eight grace marks to all MBBS final-year students, enabling 64 to pass. Some educational experts we spoke to said that while the paper could be called ``lengthy,'' it contained nothing that should not be known to a final-year MBBS student, especially the short-notes and write-briefly questions which Deshmukh has quoted as the tough ones while justifying her largesse. The four questions - two in the first section and two in the second - were as follows:

Section 1:
Write briefly on - Child labour in India, activities of UNICEF, urban malaria control programme and social factors insexually transmitted diseases.

Write short notes on: Directly observed therapy short course in tuberculosis, Child Relief and You, prevention and control of rheumatic heart disease and role of ergonomics.

Section II:
Write briefly on - Descriptive epidemiology, measures of variation, syndromic approach in sexually-transmitted diseases and integrated vector control.

Write short notes on - Alcoholic Anonymous, efficacy of BCG vaccine, tuberculosis prevalence and infection rates and barrier nursing in hospital infections.

Experts consulted are unanimous that these were very basic questions answers to which a MBBS student is supposed to know. ``Some of these questions could have been attempted by a lay man. Who doesn't know about Alcoholics Anonymous and CRY,'' said a senior professor. ``It's unfortunate that the vice-chancellor has come out with an argument that it was a difficult paper to justify her decision to grant the grace marks,'' the professor said. ``I can say that itwas a routine paper and Deshmukh should not have succumbed to the pressure,'' said a senior Health Department official, who was has done specialisation in Preventive and Social Medicine.

A former vice-chancellor of Mumbai University, who requested anonymity, described Deshmukh's action as illegal and bad in law. ``Under the Maharashtra University Act, particularly section 31 and 32, the Vice-Chancellor is not empowered to take any decision on granting grace marks,'' the former VC said. While Section 31 deals with the constitution of board of examination and authority for conducting the examination, Section 32 deals with the powers and duties of the board of examinations. ``Both the sections are very clear. The board can intervene only in the event there is a serious lapse or malpractice. Under such circumstances, the board is empowered to appoint an inquiry committee which will submit a report to the board for taking appropriate decision,'' he added.

However, he said, Deshmukh has acted on arepresentation submitted by a section of students after their results were declared. ``None of the students have complained that there was any irregularity or lapse on the part of the examining body. Their contention was that since they were unable to attempt the questions, they should be granted grace marks to enable them to pass the examination.''

Stating that Deshmukh should have outright rejected their arguments, the ex-VC said taking note of such appeals after the final results are declared is illegal and violated the laid down principles.

``If the question paper was so difficult, the students should have rushed to the vice-chancellor or the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, immediately after the paper. However, they woke up only after the results were announced. Their action appears to be just an afterthought,'' he pointed out.