MUMBAI: A day after health minister Rajesh Tope announced the new dates for recruitment examinations for 6,200 posts in the state health department, there appeared complete uncertainty about the exams in view of CM Uddhav Thackeray’s decision to examine the credentials of the Uttar Pradesh-based Nysa Communications, which has been entrusted with the task of conducting the examinations.
An estimated 8.5 lakh students have applied for the examinations.
Tope had declared that the examinations will be held on October 24 and 31. Originally, they were scheduled to be conducted on September 25 and 26, but were postponed at the last minute over large-scale goof-ups about the exam centres and hall tickets.
In the weekly cabinet meeting on Tuesday, members led by deputy CM Ajit Pawar expressed concerns over the fiasco which has resulted in hardships for students. A section of the cabinet members felt that the credentials of the firm were doubtful, and it would be in the larger interest of the students as well as the credibility of the state that the examinations should be cancelled and a new agency appointed for the purpose. Ultimately, it was decided that Thackeray will examine the issues raised by the cabinet members, as he is also minister for information technology, and take a decision on whether the contract for conducting the exams should be cancelled and the task should be entrusted to a new agency.
Significantly, Tope has taken the stand that the public health department has had a limited role in the entire episode. “As health minister, Tope can’t escape his responsibility. Even after this biggest goof-up, he does not want to own responsibility for the mess. Four days after the episode, Tope did not set up even a committee to conduct a probe,” a senior NCP minister said.
Leader of opposition Pravin Darekar blamed Tope. “If the CM is serious, he should first sack Tope and entrust the probe to the CBI or CID. A probe should be conducted and should be completed in a time-bound manner. It’s the biggest scam in the public health department,” Darekar said.
