New Delhi: In yet another case of paper leak, the Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has cancelled the examination held for review officer (RO) and assistant review officer (ARO) of the state Public Service Commission.
The examination was held on February 11. A whopping 1.07 million youth participated to fill 411 vacancies.
Hours after the chief minister announced the cancellation of the exam on March 2, saying that he had directed officials to hold a retest six weeks later, at least one candidate reportedly died by suicide due to it.
An India Today report quoting her family said a 22-year-old woman killed herself at her home in the state’s Firozabad district on March 2 after the news came about the cancellation of the February 11 examination.
The news report said her “family claimed that she was depressed over not being able to get a government job despite several attempts due to paper leak in the UP constable and RO/ARO exam.”
The state government’s decision to cancel the RO/ARO exams came just a week after the police constable examination was cancelled also due to paper leak. Held on February 17 and 18, that examination was cancelled after students held a massive protest in Lucknow demanding a re-examination.
As per news reports, two persons have been arrested so far by the special task force of UP Police in connection with the police constable examination paper leak case.
The recently held Class 12 examination by the state board too saw allegations of paper leak, sending shockwaves through the educational community. The maths and biology papers were available an hour after the examination on social media. Since they were leaked after the exam had started, the state board ‘denied’ it to be a case of paper leak. The papers were found to have been leaked through a WhatsApp group by a college in Agra. The board has since de-recognised the institution.
With the exam paper leak cases taking place in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled state frequently, the issue has snowballed into a political talking point.
On March 2, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra, reacting to the news about the board examination paper leak reports, took to X to say, “Paper leaked once again. Why after all. Under BJP rule, from job exams to board exams – almost every paper is getting leaked. Board examinations are the first challenges that children face when they learn to build their future. If such a big betrayal happens to them right here, what will they do next. To save the examination mafia and the corrupt people sitting in the government, the BJP is also hollowing the foundation of crores of children and youth”.
