GUWAHATI: The Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) is yet again in the news over alleged irregularities in the selection process for the Combined Competitive Examination, 2013. Amid the charges of selling plum jobs and nepotism, social organisation Assam Public Works (APW) sought Governor P B Acharya’s intervention to stem the rot in the APSC and take action against those involved in the corrupt practices.
The Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) staged a series of protests on the city streets demanding a CBI probe into the alleged anomalies and removal of APSC chairman Rakesh Kumar Paul. KMSS leader and RTI activist Akhil Gogoi and five of his associates were arrested during the protest. All of them were granted bail by the Gauhati High Court on Thursday.
It is the selection of some candidates belonging to powerful families that has put Paul and APSC in the dock. The protesting organisations claim that the academic achievements of some candidates selected for the jobs are pretty listless. There are charges that the jobs were sold. The organisations claim that the beneficiaries included the niece of Dolly Gogoi, wife of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, and the sons of a minister, two former ministers and a DIG of police. One person, who faces serious criminal charges, is also among those selected.
In a memorandum to the Governor, the APW --which has for long been vocal on issues such as corruption and the illegal migration of Bangladeshis -- demanded forensic tests of the answer sheets. It cited the case of Nandini Kakati, Dolly’s niece, who was selected to the Assam Police Service, had scored less than 50 per cent marks in her Class X, Class XII and BA exams.
The APW wondered how the name of Swarup Kumar Bhattacharya, who has three criminal cases pending against him, was on top of the list of selected candidates for the Assam Police Service. It also pointed out that Deepti Morang, whose name appeared on top of the list of selected candidates for the Assam Civil Service in the Scheduled Tribe Plains category, is a cousin of APSC member Basanta Kumar Doley.
“As his cousin was a candidate, ethics demanded that Basanta should have recused himself but he did not, thereby proving the allegation of nepotism correct,” APW president Abhijeet Sarma said.
He said Minerva Devi Arambam, who appeared for the CCE Mains 2014, is the daughter of APSC Principal Controller of Examinations Nanda Babu Singh. According to Sarma, going by convention and rules, Singh should have recused himself in the conduct of the exam as his own daughter was appearing for it.
To substantiate the charge that jobs were sold, the APW said the APSC chairman’s driver recently purchased a ‘huge property’ at a prime location in the city. It said no driver could buy a costly property in that area without ‘deep pockets’.
The APW also submitted details of the assets owned by the Commission’s chairman, who had allegedly bought some flats in Delhi and Gurgaon worth several crore rupees. The Governor gave seven days to Paul to reply to the charges.
The APSC chairman denied any wrongdoing by anyone in the Commission in the conduct of the exam. “We conducted the exam in a fair and transparent manner. I’m ready to face any inquiry. There will be controversy even if God were to head the APSC,” Paul told Express.
The Chief Minister initially tried to play down the allegations but later constituted a one-man panel to probe five specific charges of anomalies. The Governor said he will wait for 10-15 days for the report to be submitted, after which he would get the CBI to probe the charges.
Within days of Acharya’s assertion, a jittery Congress staged a protest against him outside Raj Bhavan for his “BJP and RSS spokesman-like” attitude. But the saffron party said the protest was aimed at thwarting the possible CBI probe as it would expose many.
Recently, the Gogoi Government had stirred up a hornet’s nest by urging the Centre to include all, whose names figure on the voters’ list, in the updated National Register of Citizens (NRC). The APW had said that the Chief Minister was trying to divert the people’s attention from the scam in the APSC.
“He (Gogoi) is cornered by the serious charges of anomalies in the selection of candidates by the APSC and hence he stirred up the controversy over NRC to divert the people’s attention,” Sarma said.
The KMSS recently alleged that Paul was rewarded with the chairmanship of the APSC for ensuring thousands of votes for Gogoi’s son Gaurav in the last Lok Sabha elections in Kaliabor. Paul, who hails from the Kaliabor town, is said to have a significant influence over voters in the constituency.
Thick and Fast