Spurious IDs mushroom

ANKIT ADHIKARI

KATHMANDU, SEP 29

Pritam Bhandari, 24, of Tilganga coolly admits that he uses a fake student identity card to get transportation discounts.

As Bhandari has already given the TU Bachelor level third year exam, he is already out of his college. The results of his exams are not out yet but his student ID card has expired. Still, as someone waiting for his results, he feels he is still entitled to a student discount.

“I am still a student, waiting to enroll in a master’s course,” he said. Since student status is determined by valid ID cards, when it came to getting discount on transportation Bhandari had to pay full fare when he travelled around. “So I approached one of my relatives, a librarian in a college and he provided me an ID card valid for three years,” he said.

Unlike Bhandari, Madhu Khadka, 23, of Anamnagar, who also gave TU third year exams this year has not found anyone who would help him get a fake ID card. “I have to travel around four times a day and as I am still unemployed, I can’t afford to pay the transportation fares without a discount.”

As the country’s oldest and largest university, TU delays publication of results by more than six months every academic year, and students are forced to either  pay full fare or get fake IDs. Many  resort to the former.

  “It’s futile to argue with fare collectors in the bus when your ID shows that you are no longer a student,” said Bibek Gurung, a student. “That leaves us little choice but to get a fake one.”

 It is easier to make fake ID cards for those who know how to use photoshop or graphic designing, said Gurung. “Once you have designed a format of any college, you can easily print it,” he giggled. “You can paste any stamp on such ID cards as the conductors only check photographs and expiry date.”  Most of the fare collectors or khalasis are barely literate.

Colleges pass the buck to the university. “As soon as the final exams are over, any person enrolled in the institution ceases to be a student,” said Gopal Chandra Pokhrel, campus Chief of Ratna Rajya College.

“There won’t be any problem if the TU publishes results on time,” Pokhrel added. “If TU delays results for five years, we can’t take responsibility for each student of the college for such a long time. Students are our responsibility only as long as they are under our academic programme.” 

Published in The Kathmandu Post -- September 30