The Ashok Gehlot government on Saturday sacked DP Jaroli, chairman of the Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education, Ajmer, and suspended two others, including board secretary Arvind Kumar Sengwa, in the paper leak case during the Teachers Recruitment Test (REET). September.
The state government also decided to introduce a bill with stringent provisions to check paper leaks and cheating in examinations in the upcoming budget session of the assembly.
The development came after a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday night.
“While fixing the responsibility of the board, the chairman has been dismissed and the secretary has been suspended. “The state government will take strict action against every person found guilty of malpractice, omission and dereliction of duty in the examination,” Gehlot said in a statement on Saturday.
Dr Subhash Yadav, Assistant Director (HRD) of the Directorate of College Education and BS Bairwa, Assistant Professor (Chemistry), Administrative Branch have also been suspended.
In the meeting, Gehlot also decided to constitute a committee, headed by a retired high court judge, to make suggestions to ensure that there are no incidents of question paper leaks and that the examinations are conducted in a fair manner, official sources said.
There were irregularities in the conduct of Rajasthan Teacher Eligibility Test (REET) 2021 by the board in September, which led to protests.
Former Chief Minister and BJP leader Vasundhara Raje on Saturday reiterated her party’s demand for a CBI inquiry into the matter.
He said in a statement that fairness and transparency of examinations should be beyond every doubt.
“It is very worrying that the investigating agencies have brought Shiksha Sankul under the scanner in the REET paper leak case. The criminal corruption exposed in the REET exam is shocking,” Raje said.
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The offices of the Education Department are located in the Shiksha Sankul building.
Leader of the Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria and others from the BJP also demanded a CBI probe.
On Saturday, the Additional Chief Secretary (Education) issued the order sacking DP Jaroli, who was appointed as the chairman of the board for three years in February 2020.
The order mentioned that failure to perform the duties as chairman of the board was grounds for dismissal.
The Personnel Department issued the suspension order of RAS Officer Board Secretary Arvind Kumar Sengwa.
Targeting the opposition BJP, the Chief Minister said that some people are creating such an environment for political reasons so that the upcoming recruitment examination cannot be held.
“Such people are playing with the future of lakhs of candidates,” he said.
Gehlot said that gangs in many states are involved in paper leaks in an organized manner which is a matter of concern to all and needs to be probed deeply.
“The state government is bringing a bill in the budget session for stricter provisions regarding copying (in examinations), paper leaks etc.,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that the State Government has given a free hand to the Special Operation Group (SOG) to investigate the paper leak case and action is being taken on the basis of the information revealed in the investigation.
“Action will be taken to immediately suspend and dismiss government employees found guilty of misconduct and dereliction of duty,” he said.
Raje, however, alleged that the Congress government was not taking any steps to help the struggling students and maintain the credibility of the examination.
“Now the only option is an investigation by an apex body like CBI to bring justice to the candidates,” he said.
SOG has arrested many people in the case.
It had recently arrested Ramkripal Meena and Udram Vishnoi, appointed by the district coordinator for the security of papers in the education complex of Jaipur.
Meena allegedly stole the paper from the education complex and gave it to Udram Vishnoi, who is accused of circulating the paper.
After it was confirmed that the paper was leaked from the education complex, the role of the chairman, secretary and other officials of the board came under question.
In September, when malpractices in the conduct of the examination came to light, the state government suspended one RAS and two RPS officers, 13 personnel of the education department and three other policemen.