Congress job recruitment model in full display in Rajasthan

Congress rule in Rajasthan since 2018, according to multiple media reports, has seen at least half a dozen major cases of leak of question papers in examinations for recruitment to various government posts

Hyderabad: The reality behind all the hype and hoopla over government job recruitment promises being doled by the Congress can be seen if one takes a look just a few States across at Rajasthan.

The Congress rule in Rajasthan since 2018, according to multiple media reports, has seen at least half a dozen major cases of leak of question papers in examinations for recruitment to various government posts. The Ashok Gehlot government’s claims of corrective measures to prevent such incidents are under question with the leaks continuing unabated.

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According to the reports, there were 26 instances of paper leaks between 2011 and 2022, 14 of them in the last four years alone. The paper leaks were a regular phenomenon during the BJP regime in Rajasthan as well. However, the frequency has now become such that even Congress ministers are questioning the ability of the Gehlot government to hold the exams successfully. Rajasthan minister Rajendra Singh Gudha had publicly said the government was protecting the ‘paper mafia’. Former deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot too attacked the Gehlot government for not doing enough to stem the rot.

According to reports in The Print, on an average, Rajasthan saw over three paper leaks every year since 2019, affecting close to 40 lakh students.

“Data provided by the Rajasthan Police’s Special Operation Group (SOG), tasked with investigating a majority of the paper leaks, shows that there were 12 cases of paper leaks between 2011 and 2018,” the report says.

In fact, Rajasthan Public Service Commission member Babulal Katara was held earlier this year after allegedly selling a teacher recruitment paper for Rs.60 lakh to a government school vice principal.

According to reports, rattled by the frequency of such cases, the Gehlot government brought in the Rajasthan Public Examination (Measures for Prevention of Unfair Means in Recruitment) Act in April 2022, threatening stringent punishment, including 10 years in jail and a fine of up to Rs.10 crore. However, question papers for two exams were leaked in eight months after the law came into effect.

With the question paper leaks reported so far involving hefty exchange of money, there were repeated demands for probes by the CBI and the ED, but the Congress government has cold-shouldered these demands.

Some of the major recruitment exams hit by paper leaks in recent times, according to the reports, were for librarian in State government (December 2019), police sub-inspector (September 2021), REET Level 1 (September 2021), high court lower division clerk (March 2022), police constable (May 2022), and forest guard (November 2022). The examination paper for recruiting senior teachers in government schools was also leaked on December 24 last year.