PATNA: The Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) on Sunday canceled the 67th combined (preliminary) competition conducted to recruit officials for the state amid mounting pressure from opposition parties.
The committee chair, RK Mahajan, had launched a three-member inquiry to investigate the paper leak after the question papers appeared on social media while the investigation was still underway. The panel was given 24 hours to submit its first report. But a few hours later, the committee announced that the panel had submitted its report and announced the cancellation.
BPSC said the exam held at 1,083 centers across the state has been canceled and Bihar police have requested that the alleged paper leak be investigated by its cyber cell.
“The BPSC name should be changed to ‘Bihar Lok Paper Leak Ayog’ because it plays with the lives of millions of young people and candidates,” tweeted opposition leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav. Other leaders also joined him.
PATNA: The Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) on Sunday canceled the 67th combined (preliminary) competition conducted to recruit officials for the state amid mounting pressure from opposition parties.
The committee chair, RK Mahajan, had launched a three-member inquiry to investigate the paper leak after the question papers appeared on social media while the investigation was still underway. The panel was given 24 hours to submit its first report. But a few hours later, the committee announced that the panel had submitted its report and announced the cancellation.
BPSC said the exam held at 1,083 centers across the state has been canceled and Bihar police have requested that the alleged paper leak be investigated by its cyber cell.
“The BPSC name should be changed to ‘Bihar Lok Paper Leak Ayog’ because it plays with the lives of millions of young people and candidates,” tweeted opposition leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav. Other leaders also joined him.
More than six lakh candidates applied for Sunday’s first exam, which was designed to shortlist candidates for 802 posts in Bihar’s government departments. Candidates had to be a minimum of college graduates and over 20 years of age to apply.
Those who passed the preliminary examination would have been eligible to appear for the second round of exams held to recruit mid-level officials such as Deputy Superintendent of Police, Sub-Department Officers, Block Development Officers and State Tax Officials.
BPSC Secretary Juit Singh, who headed the three-member investigation panel, previously said it appeared that Set C’s questionnaire had been leaked from an exam center about half an hour before the three-hour investigation was due to begin at noon. †
“The committee was made aware of the leak of question paper and reports that it went viral via WhatsApp at around 12:06 a.m. by a TV channel and the exam had already started,” Singh said earlier in the day.
A senior official said the leak of a set of questionnaires was verified and found to be true. “But once the leak was identified, there was only one option left: cancel the leak investigation,” the official said, adding that the cyber cell would get to the bottom of the matter and identify the culprits.
