Ahead of the Lok Sabha election, the crisis of unemployment unites India as few things do. Why are important sections of India out of work? How do unemployed Indians live? Why is the work available not enough to earn a livelihood? How do Indians secure employment? How long is the wait? With India out of work, The Wire unveils a series that explores one of the most important poll issues of our time.New Delhi: Alleged paper leaks and irregularities continue to mar examinations in Uttar Pradesh under the Bharatiya Janata Party government. A week after the Adityanath-led government cancelled the state police constable recruitment examination after widespread complaints of question paper leak and other irregularities across the state, the chief minister has again given in to pressure from protesting aspirants and cancelled the preliminary examination for the recruitment of review officer (RO) and assistant review officer (ARO).Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty. Photo: Intifada P. Basheer and Azam AbbasThe examination for 411 posts of RO and ARO was conducted by the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission on February 11. Not just the recruitment exams for government jobs, even board exams held in the state are now facing allegations of paper leak. Police in Agra have arrested three persons, including the principal of an inter-college, for allegedly leaking biology and maths question papers of the state secondary board education examination held on February 29.On February 24, after massive protests by aspirants in several cities, the government cancelled the police constable recruitment examination but only initiated a probe into the RO and ARO examination despite similar charges. The RO and ARO aspirants continued to protest and on March 2, 2024, Adityanath announced that the February 11 examination was cancelled. He instructed the UPPSC to hold the exams again within six months.“Those who play with the sanctity of the examination will not be spared under any circumstances. The culprits will be given such a punishment that will set an example,” Adityanath said.Question of lakhsOver 10 lakh aspirants had appeared for the RO and ARO examination while more than 48 lakh aspirants were vying for a mere 67,000 police constable jobs.Rahul Gandhi of Congress holds up a poster calling for justice for RO and ARO position examinees during the party’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. Photo: X/@INCUttarPradeshThe allegations of paper leak and corruption in these examinations provided the Opposition parties fodder to question the record of the BJP government in conducting free and fair exams and ensuring a smooth process for providing jobs to the youth against rampant unemployment and underemployment. Unemployment has emerged as one of the biggest issues that the Opposition parties, Samajwadi Party and Congress, are using to plug holes into the claims of prosperity and development by the government.However, the alleged paper leak in the board examinations have further raised serious questions on the fairness of examinations in the state. According to an FIR lodged in Fatehpur Sikri police station in Agra, on February 29, at around 3:11 pm, when the board examinations were going on, photos of the maths and biology question papers were shared on a Whatsapp group called ‘All Principals Agra’ by a phone number linked to one Vinay Chaudhary, a computer operator Athar Singh Inter-College in Fatehpur Sikri.In the police complaint, Dinesh Kumar, the district inspector of Schools, accused four identified persons, Chaudhary, his father Rajendra Singh (principal of Athar Singh Inter College), Gambhir Singh (additional centre administrator at GSK Inter College) and Gajendra Singh (static magistrate and veterinary officer) for the paper leak.Police invoked sections 3 and 4 of the UP Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act 1998 and section 72 of the Information Technology Act against the accused. Chaudhary, Rajendra Singh and Gambhir Singh have been arrested, said police. The UP Intermediate Education Department, had, however clarified on the day of the examination that the alleged leak of the paper was a stray act carried out by an individual, Chaudhary, to help a student to cheat. The overall sanctity of the examination was not affected, claimed Dibyakant Shukla, secretary of the UP Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad.The official argued that the examination was scheduled from 2 pm to 5:15 pm but the papers were leaked on the WhatsApp group at around 3:10 pm. By this time, the exam had already been conducted for more than an hour, said Shukla.Also read: 48 Lakh Aspirants For 67,000 Jobs: How Uttar Pradesh Conducted the Constable Recruitment ExamTwo die by suicideThe streak of paper leaks and disruption of the normal exam schedule has been a great cause of stress for lakhs of aspirants who hope to secure government jobs. In Firozabad, a 22-year-old woman died by suicide by hanging herself. A note left behind by her said that she was depressed over not finding a job and the recent paper leaks, said police on March 2. Last week, a 24-year-old man died in similar circumstances in Kannauj as he was aggrieved over not finding a job despite appearing in several exams, including the police constable recruitment exam, his family claimed.Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said the cancellation of the RO and ARO examinations shows “that the BJP first tries every possible way to hide its misdeeds but when there is public pressure, it retreats due to the fear of electoral defeat.”“This is the victory of the youth and another sure message of BJP’s defeat in the upcoming elections. The paper of BJP’s defeat has been leaked. Remove BJP, get a job!” Yadav said on X (formerly Twitter).Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also took to the social media site to ask why almost every paper—from jobs to board exams—were being leaked in UP. “To save the examination mafia and the corrupt people sitting in the government, BJP is also making hollow the foundation of crores of children and youth,” Vadra said.While the police probe the board exam paper leak in Agra and the RO and ARO examinations, it is still arresting people who allegedly leaked the police constable exam question paper on February 17 and 18. Kapil Tomar, an accused, was arrested by the UP Special Task Force for allegedly trying to help someone cheat in the exam through a Bluetooth device in Ghaziabad.
