After eight major government examination paper leaks in seven years, the Gujarat government has emerged from its denial mode for the ninth leak – and that too after public outcry.
Stung by a barrage of allegations from the opposition Congress and Aam Aadmi Party, the state’s Bharatiya Janata Party government on Wednesday, December 15, ordered a police inquiry into the reported leak of question papers for the December 12 exams for the recruitment of head clerks.
Asit Vora, chairman of the Gujarat Subordinate Services Selection Board (GSSSB) who had all along denied that there was any leak, told media persons on Wednesday that as many as 15-16 police teams had been deployed to look into the allegations.
As many as 80,000 candidates had appeared for the recruitment examination conducted by the GSSSB for 186 vacancies. The very next day, Yuvrajsinh Jadeja, vice-president of the youth wing of the AAP’s Gujarat unit alleged that the question paper had been leaked and sold for between Rs 6-12 lakh in various parts of the state.
Reacting to the developments, Gujarat Congress President Jagdish Thakor asserted, “Under the BJP rule, it is the whistleblower who is punished. It is a relief that the person who red-flagged the paper leak isn’t behind bars. For this government, paper leaks are not new, they have been doing it since 2014.”
At a press conference on Wednesday, Jadeja not only claimed that he had evidence of the paper leak but also gave the registration numbers of the cars used to ferry the leaked papers.
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He alleged that GSSSB chairman Vora refused to meet a delegation representing AAP on the issue and repeated that he had not received any complaint.
Vora told reporters on Wednesday, “We have not received a single complaint about the leak, but we are making best efforts to maintain transparency. Around 88,000 candidates had appeared at 782 centres for the exams out of the 2,41,400 applications for the 186 vacant posts of the head clerk.”
He said they learnt about the allegations through the media. “We immediately constituted 15-16 police teams. Minister of State for home Harsh Sanghavi has assured that he will take all steps to bring out the truth. No one will be spared,” he added.
The examination was held in six districts – Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot and Jamnagar. “We are in constant touch with the District Education Officer (DEO). As soon as the police finds any clues, the board will file a formal complaint with the police,” Vora said.
“Till then, we won’t even release the answer keys to the examiners,” he added.
AAP’s youth wing submitted a representation at Vora’s office seeking action against the alleged leak. They also demanded the candidates involved in the incident be blacklisted.
The major paper leaks since 2014 are:
- 2014 GPSC Chief officer
- 2015 Talati exam
- 2016 Talati Surendranagar and Gandhinagar exams
- 2018 Teachers Aptitude Test
- 2018 Mukhya Sevika
- 2018 Nayab Chitnis
- 2018 Dec Lok Rakshak Dal
- 2019: Non-Sachivalaya Clerks
- 2021: Head Clerk (85,000 candidates)
This article first appeared on Vibes of India.