Gujarat government orders probe into allegations of irregularities in engineer recruitment exam

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat government on Tuesday ordered an inquiry into the allegations of irregularities in an online exam being held for the recruitment of engineers for the state-run Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation (GETCO). The exam began on Tuesday and will continue for next three days.

The Gujarat BJP government swung into action after Aam Aadmi Party's state unit youth wing leader Yuvrajsinh Jadeja alleged that some middlemen, in connivance with some government officials and a private agency which is conducting the online exam, were helping candidates in clearing the online exam by taking money.

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Hours later, Gujarat Education Minister Jitu Vaghani told reporters in Gandhinagar that Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has ordered an inquiry into the allegations. "Our government believes in transparency. Nearly 35,000 young aspirants are appearing in this online exam, which will continue for three more days. Our CM has ordered an inquiry into the allegations of irregularities. We will take strict action against the guilty," said Vaghani, who is also the state government's spokesperson.

The role of a Maharashtra-headquartered firm, which has been given the contract by GETCO to conduct the online recruitment test, is also in question. However, Vaghani defended it saying the same agency was hired earlier for the recruitment of the railway police and also by some central PSUs. The minister also said there was no immediate plan to cancel the online exam, which began on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, Jadeja held a press conference and alleged that some middlemen, mostly teachers of coaching classes, people working in the private firm and some officials, were involved in this "scam" of passing candidates. The online test, which began at 12 noon on Tuesday, is being conducted at different centres across the state for the recruitment of 300 electrical engineers and 53 civil engineers, he said.

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"The entire scam is being run by people based in Bayad-town of Arvalli district. The candidates who have paid an advance (sum of money) will only pretend to appear in the exam, but will not answer any question. Instead, people sitting in a control room will click answers for them," Jadeja claimed.

"This agency's name had surfaced in a similar scam in the past also. The middlemen usually charge Rs 20 lakh from each candidate and take Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh as advance. With the help of this agency and government officials, right answers are clicked from the control room on behalf of the candidate," he alleged. Notably, the state government had last month cancelled an exam conducted for the recruitment of head clerks after police found substance in Jadeja's allegation of the exam paper leak.