Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, Dec 26: Following numerous complaints of mass copying in the Service Selection Board Written Test, which was held on Friday for the Graduation level posts, the State Government has authorized the Chief Secretary to look into the matter for deciding fate of the exam.
According to the Education Minister, Naeem Akhtar, the Chief Secretary B R Sharma will look into all the complaints of mass copying in different centres vis-à-vis reports of Divisional administration of Jammu as well as Kashmir in this regard. After a cross check on the nature of complaints, the Chief Secretary will submit a detailed report on the basis of which a final decision will be taken on the fate of SSB exam, he added.
“The reports of mass copying are very disturbing as such exams touch the skin of the youth and thus these complaints can’t be taken casually. We will find out the veracity of these complaints and certainly take appropriate decision. We will also take action against the invigilators who allegedly facilitated copying in the exams,” Naeem Akhtar further said.
Meanwhile, sources said that the JKSSB is also conducting a crucial meeting of its members on forthcoming Monday to look into the complaints and take a decision about the fate of exams conducted on Friday. The Board will decide whether to re-exam or cancel the exams at the centers where complaints of mass copying have emerged,” official sources in SSB told the Excelsior.
As reported, there was rush of complaints of mass copying, cheating and mismanagement at a number of exam centers in different districts of the State though the SSB confirmed chaos in only two centres in Jammu, established at Sacred Heart College of Education, Paloura and Luthra College of Education, Talab Tillo.
At Sacred Heart College of Education, some candidates resorted to mass copying and even went outside the exam centre along with their OMR sheets thus creating a virtual free for all situation, while at the Luthra College of Education, a number of candidates stormed into the centre after they did not find their roll numbers on the notice board. The agitating candidates tore question papers of others and even took away OMR sheets.
However, a number of candidates alleged mass copying in their respective centres also and even complained that invigilators helped the favourites in cheating. and allowed them the use of mobile phone as well as internet to find out answers of questions.
There were similar reports of alleged mass copying and cheating from different exam centres in Srinagar, Baramulla, Ganderbal, Anantnag and Budgam districts also.
After the pictures of mass copying and use of mobile phone had gone viral on WhatsApp, social networking sites were abuzz with criticism against the Government and the Board for failing to maintain transparency and the decorum of the vital job tests while the candidates demanded that the Board should cancel Friday’s tests and re-exam all these posts.
Even as the Government is looking into the complaints of mass copying, official sources did not rule out the possibility of a well planned misinformation campaign in this regard by some candidates, who could not do well in the Written Test.
“Even after more than five hours since conduct of the test, there were no reports of mass copying etc from any centres, except Luthra College of Education and Sacred Heart College of Education. However, as soon as the Key of Written Test was released on the SSB site by the evening, a rush of complaints was seen and this indicates that the candidates, who could not do well in the test, resorted to misinformation campaign to get the exam cancelled,” sources explained.
Pertinent to mention that SSB had conducted Graduate level job tests of nearly 59,000 applicants on Friday for over thousand non-gazetted posts as part of fast track recruitment at 236 centres across the State.
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