KL Report
SRINAGAR
State Accountability Commission (SAC) chairperson Justice (retd) Y P Nargotra and state Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) Kuldeep Khuda on Wednesday opined the selections of the candidates who have benefitted illegally in Common Entrance Test (CET) in 2012 should be declared null and void.
Talking to Kashmir News Service, Justice (Retd) Nargotra said: “the SAC has no power to take suo moto cognizance of this matter and we can probe into the matter only after we receive a formal complaint. But if the investigations establish that candidates have benefited from the paper leakage as is being reported in press, the admissions of those candidates who got selected in 2012 CET should be declared null and void.”
Agreeing with the observations made by the SAC chairperson, Kuldeep Khuda, state CVC maintained that he had shot some recommendations to secretary General Administration Department (GAD), Board of Professional Entrance Examination (BOPEE), urging the authorities to take certain cost effective measures to make the entrance examination transparent.
Elaborating on his recommendations, Mr Khuda told KNS: “I had recommended online examination for CET on the pattern of other competitive examinations held across the country. Second, I had suggested installation of CCTVs in examination centres for recording of impersonation, cheating and any other violations of examination code.”
Mr Khuda said that third he had recommended frisking of candidates so that it is ensured they don’t carry any prohibitory gadgets inside examination halls. “Like some Bluetooth devices were recovered from some candidates in some competitive examinations outside J&K recently. Fourth recommendation was that applications for the CET should carry scanned photographs and not the hard copies affixed on the applications. This will prevent exchange of photographs on applications.”
Mr Khuda told KNS that he had also suggested automatic photography on entry points of examination halls for CET and other competitive examinations in Jammu and Kashmir.
But the state CVC also expressed dismay, informing KNS that sofar he has not received any reply from the authorities who got these recommendations. “I have written them again asking them if any recommendations have been considered and any measures take in this regard,” Mr Khuda told KNS.
The state CVC agreed with the viewpoint of Justice (Retd) Nargotra that government should take a call on the veracity of the admissions of the candidates who were selected in CET 2012. “I am sure that investigations under crime branch led by IGP Crime Syed Javed Gilani will have a transparent and credible probe. Mr Gilani is a professional and I am sure he will take this case to logical conclusion. I also agree that the admissions should be declared null and void if the investigations establish any wrongdoing.”
