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Vyapam scam: People in power grabbed the cookies, forgot jar's fate
In those childhood stories, the group of mischievous children would always be interested in grabbing the maximum number of cookies and least bothered about the jar's fate in the process of stealing. Though they are not mischievous children anymore, this was possibly the attitude that people in power had when they became a part of the multi-layered Vyapam scam that has tainted and killed people.
In those childhood stories, the group of mischievous children would always be interested in grabbing the maximum number of cookies and least bothered about the jar's fate in the process of stealing. Though they are not mischievous children anymore, this was possibly the attitude that people in power had when they became a part of the multi-layered Vyapam scam that has tainted and killed people.
Almost all of the powerful people who got to know about the loophole in the system decided to grab the biggest share of the pie to either oblige their relatives or mint money. The thought of exposing the massive scam or at least plugging the holes does not seem to have even remotely crossed their minds.
The dirty Vyapam game was being played in the big league for at least five years before an Indore crime branch raid to arrest 20 imposters blew the lid off it almost accidentally in July 2013. Entrance tests for medical and dental colleges and various recruitment tests for government jobs were being rigged with professional accuracy of an organised crime.
Read: SC orders CBI probe in all Vyapam scam cases, related deaths
And the involvement was at all levels – from petty criminals to well-connected racketeers, politicians like former education minister Laxmikant Sharma, big league businessmen like mining baron Sudhir Sharma, police officials like ex-DIG RK Shivhare and allegedly even bureaucrats and members of the judiciary – everyone was either using the racket or patronising it.
Most shockingly, the dirty nexus extended to the office and home of the first citizen of the state. Governor Ram Naresh Yadav and his deceased son Shailesh allegedly took money in lieu of recommending candidates for government jobs. Allegations have also been levelled that people close to chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and even his relatives were involved in the multi-layered scam and that the tracks were covered up.
There have been strong denials from both the power centres, but whistleblowers and opposition Congress claim to have evidence to prove their accusations. AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh has repeatedly dared the chief minister to get him arrested if the documents that he submitted to substantiate his allegation that selection recommendations were made from CM House, were false.
So it looks like the powerful people, who could have actually put a stop to the massive scam that has affected the lives and career prospects of an entire generation in the state, chose to look the other way and even grab a portion of the pie that was at least worth Rs 10,000 crore.
There are documents to show that the government knew about the loopholes in MP Professional Examination Board at least from 2009. The CM had appointed a committee to look into fraudulent medical admissions leading to the expulsion of almost 120 students from different colleges after a report was submitted in 2011. But even as this inquiry and action proceeded, the rigging of entrance and recruitment tests continued with utmost impunity in the MPPEB.
So, either the decision makers did not take the fraud seriously or decided to look the other way. The first is no short of an egg in the face of the government and the second a serious crime. The BJP might be hailing the CM as the whistleblower and Chouhan might be patting himself on the back for 'recommending' a CBI inquiry into the scam after reports of over 40 deaths linked to it surfaced, but he or the government cannot shirk responsibility for allowing the biggest education and recruitment scam of independent India to unfold and flourish, if not benefit from it.
Read: Vyapam probe slaps firearms, illicit liquor charges on 400 students
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