By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 24 Dec: Uttarakhand Subordinate Services Selection Commission (UKSSSC) scams are multiple and range from leakage of question papers before the examinations, to aided mass copying of the answers and to manipulation of answersheets (OMR) and therefore manipulating the results. In the year 2016, examination for the post of Village Panchayat Development Officer was conducted and as per the allegations, the answer-sheets (OMR) were tampered with, with the aim of manipulating the names of those selected. The then Chairman of the UKSSSC Dr RBS Rawat who is a former Head of the Forest Department and a retired IFS Officer and the then Secretary of UKSSSC, Manohar Singh Kanyal are the chief accused.
The Government has now given permission to file a chargesheet against the then Chairman, Secretary and Controller of Examinations of the Uttarakhand Subordinate Services Selection Commission arrested in connection with irregularities in the Gram Panchayat Development Officer (VPDO) examination held in the year 2016. Chargesheet will be filed soon against the accused. The STF investigating the case has received sanction to file chargesheet against the accused for their prosecution. In addition to the former UKSSSC chairman, Dr Raghuveer Singh Rawat; the then Secretary of UKSSSC, Manohar Singh Kanyal; the then Examination Controller of the UKSSSC, Rajendra Singh Pokhriyal are amongst the main accused. The scam had surfaced during the course of investigation into the paper leakage and copying scams of UKSSC by the SIT. After the registration of the case, all the three main accused in VPDO scam were arrested on 8 October.
Sources claimed that a detailed report in connection with eight recruitment examinations conducted by UKSSSC has been prepared. The members of the expert committee have submitted their report to the new chairman of the commission, GS Martolia who is a retired IPS Officer. It may be recalled that after his appointment as chairman of UKSSSC, Martolia had constituted an experts committee to conduct a thorough scrutiny of all the recruitment examinations in question conducted by UKSSSC for various posts under the chairmanship of retired IAS officer SS Rawat. Based on the findings of the Committee, the Commission and the government are expected to decide the destiny of 8 remaining recruitments examinations conducted by UKSSSC and take a final call, if these examinations would be cancelled and fresh recruitments ordered or whether the examinations can be held valid.
The committee has investigated the apprehensions of paper leak in all the eight recruitments in question. The report was submitted by the committee headed by SS Rawat to the commission’s chairman GS Martolia yesterday. Martolia confirmed receiving the report and said that a further decision would soon be taken in respect of the recruitments in question. These include LT teachers Recruitment, Uttarakhand Personal Assistants Recruitment, Junior Assistants, Police Rankers, Drivers, Workshop Instructor, Fisheries Inspector and Head Constables in Police Telecom Recruitment.
STF will file chargesheet against the three accused in VPDO scam on 3 January next year in the court. It is alleged that OMR sheets were taken to a personal property owned by Kanyal and the exercise of manipulation in the results was carried out there.
