Job aspirants protest before OSSC over JE (civil) exam question paper leak

Bhubaneswar: Job aspirants staged a protest before the office of the Odisha Staff Selection Commission (OSSC) here on Monday over the leak of the question paper of the main written exam for junior engineer (civil) posts.

The OSSC had conducted the main written examination to fill 1008 JE (civil) Group-B posts in different offices of the Odisha government on July 16, 2023.

However, during an investigation into a fake job racket case registered in Sahadev Khuntia police station of Balasore district, the police came to know that the JE (civil) recruitment examination question paper was leaked prior to the test. Following this, the OSSC has cancelled the main written test conducted for the post and decided to conduct a fresh exam on September 3, 2023.

The irate JE (civil) job aspirants staged a protest before the OSSC office here and demanded strict action against all those including officials involved in the scam.

“We have first waited for nearly a year for the examination. Now, after completion of the primary examination, the question paper of the main exam was leaked. The exam got cancelled and a fresh date was announced. Who will ensure that the question paper will not be leaked again before the next examination date?” asked Kruti Dipta Nayak, a protesting job aspirant.

The prelim exam for the posts was held in June this year and over 5,000 students qualified for the main written test, which was conducted on July 16 last, he said.

The students alleged that the question paper could not be leaked without the involvement of officials of the Odisha Staff Selection Commission. So, all should be brought under the purview of the investigation, they demanded.

The names of the students, who got the question paper prior to the exam, should be published and they should be banned from the examination for three or four years, they demanded.

Meanwhile, the opposition BJP and Congress criticized the state government over the issue and demanded strong action against all those involved in the racket.

BJP spokesperson Anil Biswal asked how the question paper was leaked to the middlemen of Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.

Questioning the role of the Odisha government in the question paper leak, the BJP leader demanded a SIT probe into the matter and that the OSSC officials involved in the scam should be brought under the purview of the investigation.

Odisha Congress president Sarat Pattanayak asked how the question paper was leaked when the BJD government made tall claims that transparency is maintained everywhere.

The Congress leader said the state government should stop playing with the future of students of the state and take strong action against the culprits.

Reacting on this issue, BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty said many such scams have been reported in the BJP ruled states, but no action has been taken. They are now politicising the issue when nine persons have already been arrested on the basis of the enquiry report of the government’s agency, he added.

The Balasore police arrested nine persons in the fake job racket case while a hunt is on to nab the mastermind, who is from outside Odisha.  The inter-state racket was mainly operating in the states of West Bengal, Bihar, MP and Delhi.

They were targeting jobseekers and posing as close acquaintances of officials in organisations conducting examinations. The fraudsters were charging each job aspirant around Rs 8 to Rs 10 lakh.

(IANS)