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UP scraps its constable exam over ‘paper leak’
Uttar Pradesh government cancels police constable recruitment process for cheating concerns, plans re-examination within 6 months. Opposition criticizes, ruling party supports.
The Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday scrapped the police constable recruitment process for which close to five million people took examinations earlier this month, as protests grew over what aspirants said was a compromised process with widespread cheating.
The recruitment, to the post of police constables, were to 60,244 posts — which translates to at least 83 people vying for one slot — of police constables. The tests took place over February 17 and 18, with the total number of 4.81 million test-takers split roughly equally between the two days.
The government cited instances of cheating and has issued instructions to repeat the process within six months. “Orders have been given to cancel the UP Police Constable Recruitment Examination 2023 conducted for selection to the posts of Civil Police Reserve and to conduct re-examination within the next six months. There can be no compromise with the sanctity of examinations. The strictest action is certain to be taken against such unruly elements,” chief minister Yogi Adityanath said in a post on social media.
This was the state’s largest recruitment drive for such jobs since 2019, and the turnout — marked with crowded train stations and bus terminals — prompted experts to call it a reflection of the stressed employment market.
Among the applicants were more than 600,000 from other states, such as Bihar, Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Punjab.
Officials said the CM took the decision after reviewing an investigation by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force on the allegations related to the use of unfair means in the test. At least 250 people have been arrested by police since February 17 for cheating or helping candidates cheat on the test.
He also ordered free facilities to be provided to the candidates through the services of Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) for the rescheduled examination.
The state government also instructed the recruitment board to take advance legal action by registering an FIR in connection with the negligence among staff who were meant to have kept the process secure.
While the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and its ally Rashtriya Lok Dal welcomed the decision, the opposition leaders said the decision was an indictment of the Adityanath government. “The cancellation of exam may be breaking news but it is shocking news for BJP as it has lost over 2.5 lakh votes in every constituency of UP,” said Akhilesh Yadav, chief of the Samajwadi Party.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said: “Big victory for student power and youth unity! Uttar Pradesh Police Exam was finally cancelled. The message is clear - no matter how much the government tries to suppress the truth, our rights can be won only by fighting unitedly,” in a post on X.
Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Bhupendra Chaudhary welcomed Adityanath’s decision. “The decision has been taken in the interest of the youth. I can assure all that those who tamper with the dreams of the youth would face strictest possible action under zero tolerance policy of the government to such things,” the UP BJP chief said.
Rohit Agarwal, who heads the RLD’s business wing, also praised the announcement. “The exams will now be held again in six months’ time and the government will ensure that they are conducted without any glitches,” he said.
