Since most of the recruitment exams follow a similar pattern, there are concerns that similar glitches could happen in other exams, say officials.
Since most of the recruitment exams follow a similar pattern, there are concerns that similar glitches could happen in other exams, say officials.
Police Sub Inspector (PSI) recruitment scam exposed recently and the modus operandi used to destroy the system has cast a shadow not only on other police recruitments but also on most other recruitment exams conducted by the state government .
There were allegations of using similar methods in other recruitment examinations conducted by the Karnataka State Public Service Commission. Some of the touts in the PSI recruitment scam were also accused of malpractice in the 2021 PWD Assistant Engineer Recruitment Examination, indicating that organized groups of touts are actively rigging the recruitment examinations. Several coaching centers preparing students for competitive examinations have also emerged as fertile grounds for such malpractices and broker deals, police officials said.
Rudragowda Patil, another accused in PSI exam scam. photo credit: file photo
two ways to cheat
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID), probing the PSI recruitment scam, has unearthed two methods by which candidates have cheated to score high marks. To avoid subjectivity in evaluation and corruption, most of the recruitment tests now focus on progressively multiple choice questions which candidates need to fill in the OMR sheet along with the carbon copy for the candidate. However, it seems that that system itself has helped with the misconduct.
“Since most of the recruitment examinations follow the same pattern, there are concerns that similar disturbances may have occurred in other examinations as well. It was a coincidence that the malpractices got exposed in the PSI recruitment exam. A failed candidate accessed a carbon copy of a successful candidate and found that he had not even answered enough questions to score according to the results, and put it up on social media, leading to widespread corruption allegations.
The candidates had left the OMR sheets unanswered and the invigilators later filled them with the correct answers. “Till 2016, police officers used to be invigilators for these exams. But after allegations that he helped candidates, the department outsourced those working in educational institutions that have been chosen as exam centres. However, most of the disturbances have happened at these centers with the help of these inspectors,” explained an official.
CID is presently conducting forensic analysis of all the 545 OMR sheets of all the selected candidates. “So far, only over 100 OMR sheets have been analysed, of which FSL has reported that 30 of them were tampered with. Out of these 30 candidates, 24 have been arrested and the remaining six are still absconding. As and when the FSL completes the forensic analysis of the remaining papers, those found indulging in malpractice can only proceed,” said a senior CID official.
bluetooth device
Yet another method of malpractice was the use of Bluetooth devices. Aspiring PSI candidates were provided with Bluetooth devices, through which some experts, who had access to the question paper after the commencement of the examination, helped the candidates in answering the questions.
Candidates have been caught with bluetooth devices in many recruitment exams by the state government, due to which the government has deployed metal detectors to detect these devices. A senior police officer said, “However, the Bluetooth devices used in the PSI recruitment exam are very sophisticated, tiny, skin-coloured and made entirely of plastic and are not detected by metal detectors. ”
Roll Recruitment Cell?
Sources said that the CID has not yet disclosed any evidence of the involvement of those involved in the police recruitment cell, which conducted the examination. “All the malpractices that came to light during the course of investigation have happened at the examination centers – either through Bluetooth or through tampering of OMR sheets. The Recruitment Cell has no role in perpetrating these malpractices. Even the selection of exam centers has been completely decentralized and it is the district superintendent of police who selects the centres, and not the cell, a senior police officer explained. However, CID sources said that the investigation is yet to reach the cell and they will not spare anyone if they find evidence of misconduct.
Meanwhile, each of the 92 examination centers was assigned with a DYSP rank officer to oversee the examination. So far, the CID has uncovered malpractice at two centers in Kalaburagi and 7 centers in Bengaluru, while malpractice is suspected in more than 10 centres. The CID will likely send notices to more than 20 deputy superintendents in charge of these centers to join the investigation.
blow to recruitment
The 90,000-strong Karnataka State Police, which was plagued by more than 30% of vacancies, has launched an aggressive recruitment drive since 2016, with the aim of finding no vacancies by 2023-24. A senior official lamented, “PSI recruitment scam and cancellation of select list is a big blow to the recruitment drive and it will take time to recover from this and resume an aggressive recruitment drive.”