110 constables appointed in MP even after failing test: Congress

Hindustan Times: Bhopal: Saturday, September 20, 2014.

The Congress on Friday alleged as many as 110 candidates who took the police constable recruitment exam in 2012 were given jobs without clearing the test. Congress chief spokesperson KK Mishra alleged the policemen did not qualify for the appointments, questioning their postings in different parts of Madhya Pradesh.

"They had failed in the exam but are now working in the police department," Mishra told HT. He also provided HT with documents of both the candidates’ results of the exam conducted by the Professional Examination Board (PEB) and those showing that the 'failed' applicants were given postings.

The documents showed that a person named Rajesh Kumar Usrethe was marked as 'failed' in his result sheet, but his name and posting as a constable in special armed forces (SAF) wing of MP police at Gwalior figured in the posting document procured through an RTI plea.

"Similarly, names after names in documents showed 'candidates who failed' were given posting in the other document obtained through RTI," said Mishra.

When contacted by HT, the director general of police (DGP), Nandan Dube, said additional director general of police (ADG) KN Tiwari would be the right person to respond to the query.

Tiwari, who heads the selection wing at the police headquarters, said that due to an error in the PEB's software, 82 candidates were wrongly selected. There selection was cancelled later when the error was detected.

"In their place, 28 other candidates who had passed all the requisite tests were selected". However, regarding the fact that names of those 28 selected later were also shown as 'not selected' in the PEB result sheets, Tiwari said it could be an old copy. The matter would have to be investigated to find out why this happened, he added.

Mishra, when asked about Tiwari's assertion, said: "If he is so sure that nothing wrong has happened, let him deny the charge. I am saying that the RTI list showing names and roll numbers of candidates who got the job makes it clear that 110 candidates, who were declared unsuccessful by the PEB, were given jobs with the police at different places in the state."

Mishra has demanded a CBI investigation into the matter.

"The scam in PEB clearly shows that jobs were given on the basis of bribe and recommendations, yet the state government is avoiding handing over the investigation to CBI," he alleged. "This clearly shows that there is an attempt to scuttle the probe and this raises many suspicions," he added.