Aptech

Aptech Changed Several Clauses in J&K SI Exam Contract Affidavit; Govt Panel Fails to Highlight Key Edit

The government-appointed committee’s report has, however, raised fresh questions about the legality of the contracting process through which 1,200 young aspirants from Jammu and Kashmir were recruited in the police force last year.

New Delhi: A government panel tasked with an investigation failed to flag a key change made by Aptech Limited to a contract which was floated in 2022 by Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB) for written examinations for sub-inspector posts in the police force. While the panel highlighted other changes it did not point out that a noteworthy edit ensured Aptech Limited evaded a clause related to investigations ongoing against it.

The findings of the probe committee, which was formed in the backdrop of a letter from the Union home ministry last year, have cast a shadow on the integrity of the process through which Aptech, a Mumbai-based listed company, bagged the contract for conducting a ‘computer-based test’ (CBT) for SI posts in J&K. The results of these were declared in November last year.

A three-member committee headed by IAS officer R.K. Goyal, who was then posted as additional chief secretary in J&K’s Home Department, was set up on August 22 last year to probe whether all the legal and financial conditions were fulfilled by M/s Aptech Ltd when it bagged the JKSSB contract.

However, the committee’s report has raised fresh questions about the legality of the contracting process through which 1,200 young aspirants from Jammu and Kashmir were recruited in the police force last year.

Of these, more than 1,000 sub-inspectors are from Jammu division while only 120 aspirants from Kashmir made it to the final selection list.

‘Central investigating agency’

According to the 41-page report of the committee, a copy of which is with The Wire, Aptech changed the conditions in the affidavit which was filed by all the bidders at the time of the bid submission in 2022.

Per a ‘Notice Inviting Tender’ (NIT) floated by JKSSB, all the bidders were asked to file a sworn affidavit that they were “not involved in any ongoing investigation by any investigating agency” for any malpractices in conducting such exams.

However, Aptech changed the draft to declare that it was “not involved in any ongoing investigation by any central investigating agency,” thus giving itself effective immunity from the investigations that have been launched against the company’s officials by state police forces in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Assam for indulging in fraudulent practises, court documents obtained by The Wire show.

Interestingly, this change in the draft affidavit was not flagged either by JKSSB’s tendering committee, which was headed by a JKAS officer, Peerzada Zahoor Ahmad, also a member of JKSSB, or the official probe committee headed by IAS officer Goyal who is at present posted in the MHA.

‘As on date’

However, the committee has pointed out that Aptech changed other clauses in the affidavit. One of the changes was the addition of the term “as on date of bid submission” to a clause which stated that the companies participating in the bidding were “not blacklisted or under any Declaration of Ineligibility for corrupt of fraudulent practices with any Government department/agencies/Ministries/PSUs.”

While the company has justified to the probe panel that the change was in line with affidavits used in tenders floated by other government departments such as the National Testing Agency, the committee has pointed out that these changes “escaped the attention” of the technical committee and it needs to be examined by finance and law departments “for appropriate action”.

“The motive and the rationale behind the changes by the bidder are not understood at this stage. It is however noted that the merits of the aforesaid change in the eligibility conditions do not appear to have been examined by JKSSB. Needless to observe that this aspect has escaped the attention of the Technical Evaluation/Purchase Committee,” the committee noted, without elaborating or suggesting any punitive measures against the officials involved in the lapse.

‘What action can be initiated’

The committee has recommended that the administration also needs to examine whether the “variation in the affidavit could have rendered M/S Aptech ab-initio ineligible”, “whether the company attempted to suppress any materials fact thereby committing a fraudulent practise” and “legal remedies” available for the government, given that the results of the SI posts have been declared more than four months back.

Per NIT, Aptech had to sign the agreement with the JKSSB for conducting the exam within ten days after it was declared as the winner of the bid, the committee has said quoting official documents. However, the committee noted that the contract was never signed and the JKSSB didn’t take any action against the company.

“It needs to be legally examined as to what action could be initiated against M/s Aptech for this default on its part,” the committee’s report noted.

Change in exam modes

The committee has also found that the the CBT mode of examination was adopted by the J&K administration without prior notification of the amendments to JKSSB regulations which were notified in December 2022, months after the examination was conducted by Aptech.

This, the committee noted, “would not appear to be legally in order”.

The JKSSB had been conducting examination for various posts in both CBT and OMR (optimal mark recognition) modes and the change from OMR to CBT mode for SI posts was effected following the directions of then chief secretary Arun Kumar Mehta during a meeting on August 23, 2022.

Official documents noted that the performance of M/s NSEIT Limited, which was empaneled by JKSSB for two years in 2021 for conducting such exams, had “by and large remained satisfactory”, yet the administration decided to discontinue the arrangement and “proceed with fresh tender proceedings”.

In CBT mode, the onus of setting the papers and maintaining the secrecy of the entire process is on the company which is hired for conducting the examination.

“The NIT issued prior to the regulations in December 2022 was not in consonance with Regulation 9 and 10 of JKSSB (Conduct of Examination) Regulations 2013 in as much as the task of setting question papers could not have been assigned to a private company,” the committee noted.

Aspirants’ challenge

The recruitment process of SI posts was challenged by a group of 40 aspirants from J&K who alleged that the company won the tender through fraudulent means and the audit company, which was hired to conduct a third-party assessment of the examination, was investigated and banned for fraud in the United States and Germany.

A single bench of the high court led by Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal had stayed the recruitment process on December 8, 2022 which had also ordered constitution of a high-level committee headed by a retired HC judge to probe the case.

However, the government appealed the order before a division bench which referred the matter back to a single bench. In its judgement on August 31, 2023, the court had directed the J&K administration to decide the issue “on the basis of the report/recommendations made by the committee” headed by Goyal.

The findings of the committee assume significance as a CBI probe into railway exam paper leak has alleged that Aptech conspired to sell question papers to aspirants for Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh while some aspirants were also shown the papers at a hotel in Gujarat’s Surat.

Case filed

Following the disclosures, a case was filed by the central agency against Aptech officials on December 30, 2023.

Last year, a case was filed by the Ladakh police (FIR 25/2023) after allegations that the exam for direct recruitment in Kendriya Vidyalaya Schools, which was also conducted Aptech in 2023, was compromised through the use of a screen-sharing software ‘AmmyAdmin’.

Court documents obtained by The Wire show that the company officials have been accused of facilitating the installation of this screen-sharing software in at least three cases since 2018, enabling the aspirants to get their paper solved remotely while they only had to sit before the computer system at the exam centre, prompting the authorities to cancel the exams in all the three instances.

The company was blacklisted on May 23, 2019 in Uttar Pradesh after damning allegations that it had committed acts of fraud while conducting a CBT exam for the posts of junior engineers in Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd.

Similar allegations of using fraudulent practices were made against the company in the conduct of exam for vacancies in UP Jal Nigam in 2016, Rajasthan Police in 2017, Delhi University in 2018, Assam Irrigation Department in 2020 and CBSE in 2023.

The company was also fined Rs 1 crore by Securities and Exchange Board of India in 2021 for allegedly violating insider trading rules.

Exam Centres in China, UP: Yet Another Maha Govt Recruitment Drive Runs Into Controversy

Though the government tried to downplay the issue as a ‘minor technical snag’, pressure from aspirants meant it had to be cancelled at the last minute.

Mumbai: After an anxious few weeks spent waiting and coordinating with the Maharashtra health department, Nanded resident Tanaji Telange finally obtained his hall tickets for exams to two Group ‘C’ posts in the department that he had applied for. However, the exam centre was at Paithan in Aurangabad district, almost 300 kilometres away from his place.

Even as Telange was working out the logistics to attend the exams, scheduled on Saturday, September 25, he was notified about a new exam centre. This was a further 50 kilometres away.

The 26-year-old Telange, who is appearing for the junior clerk and operation theatre assistant positions, was issued three different hall tickets instead of two. All of them mentioned different locations and different exam timings. He was baffled.

Another candidate, Datta Patukar, was notified about an exam centre 1500 kilometres away, in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. For another candidate, the experience was even more surreal. He was issued a blank hall ticket, with just the pin code of Yutan village in China mentioned on it.

These exams were the first to be held in five years by the health department to fill over 6,250 vacant posts in Group C and D categories. Over 8 lakh aspirants from across the state have applied for these posted, only to encounter chaos and errors.

This is the latest in a series of exams conducted by the Maharastra government to be mired in confusion, controversy and allegations of fraud and mismanagement.

The chaos, however, was termed as a “minor technical snag” by the Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope.

When candidates pushed back and started a social media campaign exposing the department’s apparent lack of seriousness to conduct the exam, Tope was forced to abruptly cancel the exam late at night on September 24.

Earlier, Tope had claimed that for a brief period, the server was accessed somewhere in Uttar Pradesh, causing an error in the exam centres on some hall tickets. He, however, did not have any explanation for how a pin code from China was printed on a few hall tickets. Later at night, while announcing the cancellation of the exam, Tope blamed Nysa Communications, the private firm contracted by the Maharashtra Information Technology Corporation Limited or ‘MahaIT’ to conduct these state-level competitive exams.

MahaIT is the nodal agency of the government of Maharashtra that handles recruitment to several state government posts. The health department too is conducting its exam through MahaIT. Though the agency was set up to “bolster the efficient and effective implementation of Information and Communication Technology initiatives and to establish a robust e-Governance ecosystem framework”, it has been mired in many controversies since its inception.

Hall tickets showing exam centres in Noida, a village in China and one that is entirely blank. Photo: The Wire

The Wire tried contacting Puneet Kumar, the CEO of Nysa Communications several times but got no response. The story will be updated as and when Nysa Communications responds to The Wire’s queries.

During the previous Devendra Fadnavis-led government in the state, the department signed contracts with private firms like the US-based IT company ‘UST Global’ and an Indian company ‘Arceus Infotech Private Limited’ – both of which have been accused of misappropriation of funds and involvement in a “Vyapam-like scam” that was revealed by The Wire. The department is yet to clear its name from the past alleged misdoings.

Also Read: Under Fadnavis’s Watch, a Vyapam-Like Scam Flourished in Maharashtra

Tope’s sudden decision to cancel the exam late last night might have temporarily contained the chaos, but failed to take into account the anxiety, confusion and frustration that more than 8 lakh candidates have been subjected to in the process.

In the past year, almost all state exams have had similar issues. On February 28, when the health department had conducted another set of exams, several aspirants were accused of blatant cheating through the use of sophisticated microphones and scanning machines. At several centres, the question papers had arrived late; at some places, the seals were tampered with. Multiple FIRs were registered across the state and several candidates and centre management officials were arrested.

Similarly, last month, during the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) exams for class C and D posts, several students’ organisations had pointed out the chequered past of private firm Aptech Limited engaged to conduct the exams.

Aptech has already been blacklisted by the Delhi and Uttar Pradesh governments but still was taken on board by the MahaIT to conduct exams in Maharashtra. The Allahabad high court and the Delhi high court too have made scathing observations against the firm, asking for proper legal action to be initiated against it.

Following allegations, the MIDC was forced to cancel a part of its exams and has written to MahaIT seeking an explanation. Officials at MIDC confirmed that MahaIT has in turn written to Aptech to clear its stand. No action has been initiated against the firm so far.

Several candidates have levelled allegations of rampant exam fraud in Maharashtra. Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty

Vigilant students’ forum

Students’ organisations like ‘MPSC Samanvay Samiti’ and ‘Yuva Halla Bol’ have been at the forefront of exposing the system and amplifying the aspirants’ demands. Nilesh Gaikwad, a BTech graduate from Buldhana district, also a member of MPSC Samanvay Samiti says the students are doing what the government ideally ought to do.

“Earlier it was UST Global. Now it is Aptech and Nysa. Companies can be empanelled only if they meet the several criteria laid down in the contract. Clearly, the department has overlooked the glaring loopholes and have empanelled companies that are unfit to carry out large scale exams,” he said.

Delay in conducting these exams has meant increased vacancy in different departments and unrest among students. Not just the MahaIT but also the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) has failed to conduct exams on time. The delay in conducting these exams was cited as a reason by several aspirants who ended their lives. In just November and December of 2020 alone, at least six separate incidents of aspirants dying by suicide have come to light.

Telange, who already works as a group D worker and hopes to jump up to group C post eventually, says the government’s failure to ensure a fair examination process has failed an entire generation. “Aspirants, mainly from the rural region, wait for years to crack these exams. Most of us are children of landless farm labourers, who have toiled for years to make a decent life. And when it is time for us to face these competitive exams, the state administration lets us down,” Telange shared.

In October last year, The Wire has published a detailed investigative article of fraud in the state’s recruitment drive carried out by the previous Devendra Fadnavis government, which by its complexity and extent, was comparable to the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board scam, more commonly known as the Vyapam scam. The Wire‘s findings were corroborated by the former Ahmednagar collector Rahul Dwivedi and a private audit firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), engaged by the state in 2018 to audit the recruitment drive. The investigation pushed the state government to sideline the previously empanelled private firms. The problem, however, has persisted.

Students’ organisations have demanded that the state government do away with private players completely and that all exams should be handled by the MPSC. Gaikwad feels, “At least, we would be able to demand accountability and there would be some transparency in the process.”

Billionaire Investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala Under SEBI Scanner for Insider Trading in 2016

The stock market investor is being probed for insider trading in the education firm Aptech, where he and his family own majority stake.

New Delhi: Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, the billionaire stock market investor, is under Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) scanner for insider trading in education firm Aptech. Jhunjunwala and his family own majority stake in Aptech, reports The Economic Times.

According to Livemint, the market regulator is examining the time period of February 2016 to September 2016. “The regulator is examining a time frame of February 2016 to September 2016 for irregular trades, which it suspects were done on the basis of insider information”, Livemint reported.

Sebi is also investigating the role of other family members, as well as some board members, including investor Ramesh S. Damani and director Madhu Jayakumar. Jhunjhunwala’s brother and wife, Rajeshkumar Jhunjhunwala and Rekha Jhunjhunwala, are also being probed by market watchdog.

Also read: IL&FS Case: SEBI Slaps Rs 25 Lakh Fine Each on ICRA, CARE and India Ratings

According to Livemint, Jhunjhunwala’s brother and wife bought 763,057 shares in the IT firm through block deals on September 7, 2016. With 24.224% stake in it, Aptech is the only company in Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s portfolio where he has management control. The stake is valued at around Rs 160 crore.

In 2005 Jhunjhunwala picked up stake in Aptech for the first time — 10% at Rs 56 per share. He has gradually increased his holding since then. Sebi sent the summons under Section 11 C(5) of the Sebi Act that gives the regulator power to summon individuals and appear before it for any probe.

By arrangement with Business Standard.