Question papers: leak like a sieve

By Y. Maheswara Reddy | NT 

One more scam surfaced again and one more investigation has been ordered. As usual, one more statement by the higher authorities concerned that those involved in the scam would not be spared irrespective of their status in society or political association. These type of scams and announcements have become a routine in Karnataka.

All question papers including SSLC, PUC, undergraduate or postgraduate or even the First Division Assistant examinations are not are not immune to leak. All political parties, whether it is Congress or BJP or even JD(S), are equally responsible for such leakages during their regime.

All political parties make a hue and cry while in Opposition and remain mute spectators while in power. The police failure in presenting a strong case in court is another reason for the flourishing trade of question paper leakage.

For example, Shivakumariah alias Guruji was arrested four times and released on bail for his involvement in leaking and selling question papers of II PU, ComedK and other competitive examinations. He died of Covid-19 in May 2020.

It is also shocking to come across political parties vying (secretly or openly) among themselves to protect the guilty. It may be recalled that the State Cabinet took a decision in June 2021 to withdraw sanction to prosecute the chairman and nine members of KPSC for their alleged involvement in the scam that took place in 2011.

It may be recalled that Siddaramaiah government ordered a CID probe into the scam in 2013. The CID team verified hundreds of KPSC files and spoke to more than 200 witnesses, apart from scanning around 700 mobile phones before submitting a report on the scam. What is the use of spending a huge amount of money and manpower to investigate the scam if the State Cabinet decides to withdraw sanction to prosecute the officials for their alleged involvement? Though it is premature, it seems there is no guarantee of punishing the guilty and prosecuting government officials for their involvement in the PSI scam too.

“The problem with the government is the selecting wrong or corrupt candidates for important posts such as KSPC or police recruitment. The government has announced cancellation of PSI examination without taking into account the problems and hard work of PSI candidates who appeared and passed the examination. It is unfair to ask PSI candidates to write examinations once again. If the government is not in a position to conduct examinations without malpractices, let it direct candidates from poor families not to attend competitive examinations. Let the government auction government posts,” said Sai Datta, a social activist.

H.M. Venkatesh, a social activist, demanded the state government to order a judicial inquiry into the PSI scam. “The PSI scam has been taking so many twists and turns. It is alleged that politicians have hand in glove with those arrested for the PSI scam. It is better to have a judicial probe into the scam instead of a CID probe,” opines Venkatesh.

A government officer, on a condition of anonymity, blamed rampant corruption in the selection of people for plum posts. The official said each KSPC member has to allegedly pay a huge amount of money to the people at the helm of affairs. “How do you expect such people not to be involved in scams to get back their money paid to those who selected them as KPSC members or police recruitment board?” the official asks.

Meanwhile, the candidates who have passed the PSI examination staged a protest near Freedom Park demanding the government to cancel its decision to conduct re-examination.

Chetana Yadav, a mother of a three-year-old girl, has said that she stayed at a paying guest accommodation for two months to prepare for the PSI examination by leaving her daughter with her parents. “I am against the government’s decision to conduct a re-exam. I have put up a lot of effort to pass the examination. I stayed in a PG for two months even though I have a home in Bengaluru to focus on studies. Preparing for the PSI examination is not an easy task. When the CID’s team