Its scams time in Kashmir. At least four scams- two related to entrance examination for professional courses, another regarding fraudulent admission in elementary training course for teachers and fourth about alleged illegal recruitment in Health Department- have shaken the trust and confidence of people in agencies supposed to conduct transparent test of applicants.
The Common Entrance Test 2012 is under the cloud of fraud. The then chairman of J&K Board of Professional Entrance Examination (J&KBOPEE ) Mushtaq Ahmad Peer is accused of in selling of question paper for entrance test of professional (medical engineering) courses in 2012.
According to Crime Branch, which is investigating the case, Peer sold question papers to his acquaintance and broker Farooq Ahmad Itoo of South Kashmir on the evening of June 22, 2012, a day before entrance test was scheduled to be conducted.
Peer is alleged to have sold question papers of Physics and Chemistry to the broker for Rs. 60 lakhs.
Peer received `30 lakhs after handing question paper to the broker a day before entrance test. He was given remaining `30 lakhs by Itoo after the results were disclosed. Itoo, according to sources, had sold the question papers to wards of affluent families with the help of more brokers, which included his friends and relatives.
According to initial investigations, the brokers earned more than Rs. 5 crores by selling entrance examination papers.
“At least 40 students are under scanner and the Crime Branch has established cases against 15 students for securing admission through fraudulent means. Those students, who benefited from the fraud, later performed poorly and failed in MBBS course’s internal examination,” sources said.
The beneficiary students and their parents are being quizzed by the Crime Branch officials to know more facts.
The ex-J&KBOPEE chairman’s locker in one of the branches of HDFC bank at Residency Road was seized. He had deposited gold worth Rs. 25 lakhs in the branch, which is now under custody of the CB.
He is said to have properties in Srinagar, Jammu, Delhi. “His bank accounts are being scrutinized. We apprehend that he may have accounts in fake names,” a senior officer of the Crime Branch said.
At a time when CET-2012 is already under scanner, entrance test conducted for professional courses this year is also in news for wrong reasons. A day before the entrance test, question papers were out. The authorities postponed the examination and conducted it after few days. There are allegations that answer keys of nine questions were wrong.
A candidate Qazi Basra, who appeared in CET-2013 and secured 168 marks has filed a petition in the High Court alleging that in biology paper (series - C) and chemistry paper (series-C), authorities applied wrong keys for seven and two questions respectively.
She says she could have secured nine more marks and her merit could have risen to 177 ensuring her admission to MBBS in GMC Srinagar. In view of sensitivity of the issue, the High Court has directed J&KBOPEE to disclose revised keys in series-C of biology and chemistry papers of CET-2013 by December 1.
“In case keys were found wrong, the J&KBOPEE would be bound to withdraw the merit list,” the court has warned.
Meanwhile, admission to Elementary Teachers Training (ETT) institutes in the state are under CB probe for alleged fraudulent admissions of non local students in the institutes. The ETT degree is a must in some states such as Rajasthan and Haryana for government teacher posts.
Sources said hundreds of non-local students were fraudulently provided admission in ETT institutions in the state in lieu of money.
The CB sleuths have seized all records of ETT institutes after J&K Board of School Education (J&KBOSE) refused to register admission of over 12,000 candidates. “The students paid large sum of money to brokers, who in turn gave their share to officials to facilitate the admission of non-local students in the ETT institutes,” they said.
Sources said ETT colleges in the state were found to have provided degrees to students from different states after charging a hefty sum from them without giving them any education.
The candidates were supposed to attend 180 classes for a single session. The investigations, according to sources, have revealed that an amount of Rs. 8.22 crores was paid to officials by candidates through brokers to facilitate their admission in ETT institutes.
Between all this the state Health Department is also in the news. The District Health Societies have allegedly made illegal appointments, including those of doctors and paramedics in National Rural Health Mission under the newly launched Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram.
Sources said appointments of medical officers, pharmacists, nursing and other supporting staff were made by district health societies after conducting ‘fake’ screening tests in nexus with other officials. They alleged that candidates paid Rs. 2 to 5 lakh to officials before appearing for the viva test. A top official of the NRHM said selection process has been decentralised. He said they have completed the recruitment process in all the districts. “All these selections were made through district health societies headed by concerned Deputy Commissioner. In case any wrong has taken place, then respective DC is responsible for it,” the official said.