SHIMLA: The chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Congress government on Tuesday dissolved the Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission, Hamirpur.
This major action has been taken after the inquiry reports submitted to the government confirmed the allegations of paper being leaked to select people during last three years. While announcing to dissolve the Commission, the chief minister said that till the time new recruitment agency is not formed, the Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission would carry out the recruitment process.
Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu while interacting with media persons in Shimla said that papers were being sold in Staff Selection Commission Hamirpur for the last three years to some people only. He said that people were involved in this work from top to bottom, therefore, keeping in view the future of the youth, the government has dissolved the Commission.
He said that the departmental and vigilance investigation reports have many shocking revelations, which cannot be made public at this stage. In this case, the first charge sheet will be filed in the court on Tuesday itself, while the second supplementary charge sheet will also be filed soon.
The chief minister said that the Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (HPPSC) will evaluate the papers of the written examinations which have been conducted by Staff Selection Commission, but the result is yet to be declared. Similarly, HPPSC will also do the work for the papers for which roll numbers were given to the candidates and for the examinations whose documents are also to be checked.
He said that the youth will soon get many employment opportunities in various departments. The government does not want any youth to be cheated. In view of this, the government has taken this strict decision.
Earlier on December 26 last year, in the Junior Office Assistant-Information Technology (JOA-IT) recruitment examination paper leak case, the state government had suspended the functioning of Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission, Hamirpur, till further orders and had constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) level officer. A separate Tech team was also constituted to aid the ongoing investigation in Hamirpur.
The JOA-IT recruitment examination was to be conducted on December 25 last year but before that question paper was leaked. The JOA-IT recruitment paper leak case had brought the functioning of Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission (HPSSC) under scanner as it has come to light that Nikhil Azad son of Senior Superintendent of Secrecy Branch-Uma Azad, both arrested by Vigilance Bureau, had topped in some other examinations conducted by the Commission.
A high level meeting was held in Shimla on December 26 last year after which the order to suspend the functioning of the Commission was issued late evening. The government had also come to know about the leakage of question papers of posts of Junior Auditors and Computer Operators for which examination is proposed to be held in near future. Government also apprehended that this malpractice has been going on for quite some time in connivance with the personnel of the Commission.
A case was registered at Vigilance Bureau police station Hamirpur on December 23 last year that a person has demanded Rs 2,50,000 from the complainant in lieu of providing the paper of JOA (IT) 965 test, which was scheduled on December 25 last year. The facts were verified and found to be substantiated. So far 6 accused including Uma Azad, Nikhil Azad, Sanjeev Sharma, Neeraj, Ajay Sharma and Tanu Sharma have been arrested.
