The Sikkim Government has constituted a high-powered committee comprising five government officials to examine various allegations concerning irregularities and malpractices in the Sikkim Services (Combined Recruitment) Examination, 2022, held on January 16, 2023.
The high-level committee comprising five government officials has been asked to submit its report within 21 days.
The high-powered committee includes- Ravindra Telang, IAS and Additional Chief Secretary of the Education Department of Sikkim, Akshay Sachdeva, IPS and Special Director General of Police Law and Order in Sikkim, Rinzing Chewang Bhutia, SCS Secretary, Department of personnel, Tashi Cho Cho, Secretary of the Home Department, and Tushar Gajanan Nikhare, IAS District Magistrate, Gangtok.
Ravindra Telang will act as the committee’s chairman, and Rinzing Chewang Bhutia will act as the member secretary.
The committee has been instructed to examine all allegations of malpractice in the examination.
It has been asked to look into the veracity of complaints, and investigate the alleged irregularities during the examination.
In order to conduct the investigation properly, the committee can request records or documents from the State Government or the Sikkim Public Service Commission.
If necessary, the committee can suggest appropriate measures to streamline the examination’s conduct, as stated in the Government notification.
If it is considered necessary, the committee may also enlist the assistance of any additional government official.
It is to be mentioned here that candidates who appeared for the examination have alleged rampant cheating and extensive violation of examination rules at several centres across the state where the exams were held.
Aggrieved candidates claimed that there was no proper checking or frisking of candidates as they entered the examination centres.
Citing the example of Room 49-50 in Tadong Senior Secondary School, the candidate alleged that the aspirants received booklets with broken seals and invigilators left the exam halls unattended which resulted in widespread cheating.
There were about 8,000 aspirants who sat for the exam. The exams were held to fill 18 Under Secretary positions, 14 positions of DSP, and 30 positions of Accounts Officer.
Copy edited by Lipika Roy
The review meeting was attended by Chief Ministers of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura.
In total, around 1,200-1,400 houses primarily belonging to Bengali-speaking Muslims, were demolished during the eviction…