No incidence of paper leakage has been reported in the recruitment examination conducted by the institutes like Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), and the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) in the last two years, Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said on Thursday.
In a written reply to Rajya Sabha, Singh said, ‘Recently, National Testing Agency (NTA) conducted NEET(UG) examination on May 5, 2024 in OMR (Pen and paper) mode.
Certain cases of alleged irregularities/ cheating/ impersonation/ malpractices were reported.’
After review, the matter was entrusted to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for comprehensive investigation on June 22, 2024, he added.
He further said, ‘No incidence/event of paper leakage has been reported in the recruitment examinations conducted by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), Staff Selection Commission (SSC), Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) and Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS), during the last two years.’
In order to provide for prevention of unfair means in public examinations, the government has enacted the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair means) Act, 2024, which has been brought into force vide and subsequently rules under this law have also been notified, he added.
This came as this year, the NEET examination is surrounded by controversies, including allegations of question paper leaks, the awarding of ‘grace marks,’ and other systemic issues, which led to a series of legal battles that lasted for around two months.
Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw also said that no instance of paper leakage has occurred during railway recruitment board examinations.
‘Railway overcame all these challenges and successfully conducted the recruitment in a transparent manner following all laid down guidelines. No instance of paper leakage or similar malpractice has occurred during the entire process,’ Vaishnaw said in a written reply in Lok Sabha to questions raised by DMK MP Kalanidhi Veeraswamy.
Veeraswamy wanted to know the number of vacant posts in the Railways and steps taken by the government to fill them.
‘Occurrence and filling up of vacancies are a continuous process in Indian Railways considering its size, spatial distribution and criticality of operation,’ Vaishnaw said.
He added, ‘Adequate and suitable manpower is provided to cater to the regular operations, changes in technology, mechanisations and innovative practices. The vacancies are filled up primarily by placement of indents by Railways with Recruitment agencies as per operational and technological requirements.’
