Vyapam Scam: Roll Numbers, Answer Sheets Fudged

The report, which was submitted to the State government last year, said the first level of tampering was done when roll numbers were allotted.

BHOPAL: Exactly two years before Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan ordered a CBI inquiry into the Vyapam scam on Tuesday, the Pre-Medical Test (PMT) was held on July 7, 2013, where large-scale irregularities were initially detected.

Chouhan had set up a committee in 2013, comprising seven senior State IAS officers, to look into loopholes which led to employees of the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (Vyapam) exploiting the system to favour certain candidates. A copy of the report, which aimed at suggesting reforms, is with Express and it details how employees like board controller Pankaj Trivedi, systems analyst Nitin Mohindra, along with others tampered with roll numbers and circumvented archaic systems to help a select few. It was not only the PMT exams that were manipulated but over six other recruitment and entrance exams were also rigged using the same modus operandi, the report suggested.

The report, which was submitted to the State government last year, said the first level of tampering was done when roll numbers were allotted. “The roll numbers were indexed according to the respective technical officials. The files were not secured or digitised or even uploaded on the website. Computer branch head Nitin Mohindra, systems analyst Ajay Kumar, along with co-programmer Chanderkant Mishra, on the bidding of Pankaj Trivedi, allotted roll numbers to certain candidates,” said the report. It added that the system affected the PMT exams held in 2012 and 2013.

The next was when OMR (optical mark reading) answer sheets were sent to the board. “The OMR sheets were scanned on local area network, so that they can be modified from other computers. The scanned data was not preserved on separate CDs date wise. The same CD was used to overwrite data before transferring it to central observers. The data and answer sheets were kept in a mini strong room, not in the main room. Boxes and valuation reports were not kept in the main strong room, allowing people to tamper it,” the report added. It led to exams like PMT 2012, subedar recruitment, platoon commanders, police SIs, weight and measurement officers 2012 and cooperative dairy exams 2012 being affected, it said.

CM urges HC to order CBI Probe

Four months short of completing a decade in office, Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Chouhan spent a sleepless night before ordering a High Court-monitored CBI inquiry into the Vyapam scam, on Tuesday. Chouhan said “people had the right to know” answers to the questions raised.