BENGALURU: The Karnataka government has constituted a Competitive Examinations and Recruitment Reform Committee under the chairmanship of former chief secretary SV Ranganath, with former chief secretaries TM Vijayabhaskar, Vandita Sharma and former ACS LK Atheeq as members. The committee has been told to recommend reforms to strengthen the state’s competitive examination and recruitment processes.
Karnataka has prepared comprehensive guidelines for every stage of the examination process, and Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has instructed officials to follow them strictly. He said deputy commissioners, superintendents of police and education department officials would be responsible for ensuring fair conduct of examinations at the district level.
Chairing a meeting of senior officials at Vidhana Soudha to review preparations for the upcoming recruitment drive with district officials, Shivakumar said Karnataka should set a national benchmark in recruitment. He directed officials to recruit candidates to over 70,000 government posts in a completely transparent and professional manner, and warned of zero-tolerance for malpractice.
“We have taken up the massive task of filling more than 70,000 posts. The recruitment process must be completed transparently and become a model for the country,” he said. Karnataka’s technological capabilities should be fully utilised to ensure a professional and secure recruitment process, he added.
The CM asked authorities to keep candidates informed about measures being taken to ensure transparency and adopt best practices followed by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to strengthen the process. He said every officer has been assigned specific responsibilities and must discharge them diligently.
Warning of strict action against any lapses, Shivakumar said senior district officials would be held directly responsible if examination malpractice was reported. He also asked senior officials to regularly review measures put in place by the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) and Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) for recruitment.
The CM directed officials to remain vigilant at every stage of the examination process and ensure that it is video recorded. He also instructed authorities to prevent educational institutions and managements from facilitating malpractice and prohibited officials and staff from carrying mobile phones. He directed SPs to keep all coaching centres under close surveillance to prevent any attempt at examination malpractice.
Home Minister Priyank Kharge, CM’s Principal Adviser GC Chandrashekhar, Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh, Economic Adviser LK Atheeq, Additional Chief Secretary Tushar Girinath and other senior officials attended the meeting.
