BENGALURU: The opposition BJP and ruling Congress agreed to stop rampant corruption and perennial irregularities in the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC). In the Assembly on Tuesday, they admitted that KPSC, irrespective of whichever party is in power, witnesses corruption while conducting competitive exams to recruit officers.
Replying to Leader of Opposition R Ashoka, RDPR and IT-BT Minister Priyank Kharge said the government held two rounds of meetings to reform KPSC. “The opposition has raised a serious and relevant issue. If we don’t take action, it will amount to injustice to people,” he said.
Opposition members held KPSC member secretary, an IAS officer, responsible for the postponement of 2023-24 KAS probationary officers’ examinations due to errors in question papers. Ashoka pointed out that the Kannada translation of the questions had 59 mistakes and even after CM Siddaramaiah posted on ‘X’ that the government will ensure error-free question papers, 79 mistakes recurred.
“The member secretary should be sacked and reexamination held. The officer was irresponsible and showed disrespect to Kannada. Over 2 lakh aspirants who took the examination were affected and the state exchequer incurred a loss of Rs 30 crore as it costs Rs 15 crore to conduct the examination every time. The money should be recovered from the guilty,” he said.
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil said action will be taken after consulting the CM. “Your concern and ours are the same in protecting the interest of children of Kannadigas and rural areas,” DCM DK Shivakumar said.
Alleging irregularities in the probationary officers’ examinations, Ashoka charged that the posts of assistant commissioners, commercial tax officers, DySPs and tahsildars are being auctioned. He asked why KPSC should have 16 members with Rs 2.5 lakh salary and other allowances per month, while Uttar Pradesh, despite being a bigger state, has only eight members.