E-Paper
RO/ARO exam paper leak: UPPSC demands STF probe after protests
Test was held for recruitment to 334 posts of RO and 77 posts of ARO on Sunday. Aspirants and some student organisations alleged that the question paper had been leaked before the exam started.
The Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) wants that the state police’s Special Task Force investigate the allegations of a question paper leak in the preliminary recruitment examination for review officers and assistant review officers (ROs/AROs).
The test was held for recruitment to 334 posts of RO and 77 posts of ARO on Sunday. However, aspirants and some student organisations alleged that the question paper had been leaked before the exam started.
UPPSC secretary Ashok Kumar said while the commission had constituted an internal committee to look into the issue following the reports and claims of the paper leak, it had also sent a formal recommendation to the state government requesting for an STF probe into the issue.
Meanwhile, aspirants claimed that the RO/ARO examination paper had been leaked the night before the exam and was available on certain WhatsApp groups.
Omkar Nath Singh, the commission’s secretary in Prayagraj, in a press release earlier, had said the exam was held at 2,387 centers in 58 districts of the state, and that 64% of the candidates took it. He claimed that the exam was held in all fairness.
On Monday, aspirants staged a protest outside UPPSC headquarters in Prayagraj and demanded that the exam be cancelled and re-conducted. In Lucknow, the National Students’ Union of India’s (NSUI’s) Lucknow University unit on Monday staged a protest over the issue on the university campus.
Later in the evening, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra took to social media to allege that there was a question paper leak in the exam. She wrote: “After waiting for many years, a law against paper leaks was passed in Parliament. On the other hand, the review officer exam paper was leaked in U.P!”
Her post further read: “From recruitment of inspectors in 2017 to that of review officers in 2024 – according to reports, papers of almost every competitive exam in UP have leaked. What is the government going to do to stop this... In Uttar Pradesh, we had issued a special ‘Recruitment Legislation’ manifesto for the youth in which a solution to these problems was presented. Had the BJP government wanted, it could have secured the future of youth by implementing those provisions.”
Harendra Kumar, a student leader in Prayagraj, claimed that solved papers were doing rounds on WhatsApp groups even before the examination had started.
NSUI leader Prince Prakash also said paper leak cases were happening in almost every exam held in the state, and alleged that the UP government was unable to conduct competitive exams in all fairness. “At a time when unemployment is at its peak in UP and the country, the government should ensure that exams are held in all fairness so that there is no disappointment and frustration in their mind,” he added.
