Chandigarh

The opposition parties have been turning up the heat on the AAP government in Punjab, alleging multiple examination paper leaks in the past four-and-a-half years following the detection of a cheating racket in the pharmacy officers’ recruitment examination recently.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, however, has stood his ground, claiming that not even a single exam paper was leaked in the state during the AAP’s tenure.

The AAP also claimed that the Congress, SAD and BJP are trying to create a fake narrative to mislead people as they do not have any issue against the Mann government.

The opposition parties are cornering the Mann government in poll-bound Punjab ever since police on July 19 unearthed a cheating racket in the pharmacy officers’ recruitment exam, pressing for the resignation of Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains and Health Minister Balbir Singh.

On July 19, Punjab Police dismantled a sophisticated, inter-state cheating racket operating during the pharmacy officers’ examination and arrested 10 candidates along with an 11-member gang.

Police detected the use of pen cameras and real-time dictation during the exam. The investigation revealed that the cheating racket charged desperate candidates sums ranging between Rs 3.5 lakh and Rs 13 lakh to guarantee passing marks.

Nearly 7,000 candidates appeared for 454 pharmacy officer posts across 25 examination centres in Faridkot, Kotkapura and Ferozepur. The examination was conducted by Baba Farid University of Health Sciences on behalf of the Health and Family Welfare Department.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued a notice of motion on a plea seeking cancellation of the exam and also directed that the further selection process would be subject to the outcome of the present petition.

Following the detection of the cheating racket, the opposition parties alleged that at least six paper leaks had taken place under the AAP in Punjab.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia has cited the cancellation of the Class 12 English board exam conducted by the state in February 2023, along with the cancellation of the Punjab State Teachers Eligibility Test in March 2023.

Majithia also criticised the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) for adopting “double standards” on the issue of paper leak, stating that if it does not hold the Punjab government accountable for the “paper leak”, it will mean it has an understanding with the AAP.

Punjab BJP general secretary Anil Sarin has accused the AAP government of deceiving the people by falsely claiming transparency and honesty, while repeatedly “failing to protect the integrity of government recruitment exams”.

Pointing towards the cheating in the pharmacy exam, Sarin claimed it was not an isolated case but part of a systematic failure.

He also alleged that the question paper was scanned inside an examination centre, transmitted outside, solved, and the answers relayed back to the candidates through Bluetooth devices, exposing serious lapses in security.

Following a sustained campaign against the state government, Mann on July 28 said that not even a single exam paper was leaked in the state in the past four-and-a-half years.

“Our government has completed four-and-a-half years in office, and not a single exam paper has been leaked during this period,” Mann claimed.

He also slammed the BJP, Congress and SAD for trying to “tarnish the reputation of Punjab through false paper leak allegations”.

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On the cheating racket unearthed during the pharmacy officers’ exam, Mann said the health minister (Balbir Singh) has already clarified that there was no paper leak.

“It was merely an attempt at cheating, which was immediately stopped, and the examination was concluded successfully. Paper leaks cannot happen in Punjab,” Mann said.