UKSSSC former chairman, ex-secretary & ex examination controller arrested by STF
Sunday, 09 October 2022 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Trio arrested for irregularities in VPDO examination held by UKSSSC in 2016
The Special Task Force (STF) has arrested former chairman of Uttarakhand Subordinate Services Selection Commission (UKSSC) and former principal chief conservator of forests, RBS Rawat, former secretary of the commission Manohar Singh Kanyal and former examination controller RS Pokharia for the alleged scam in the village Panchayat development officer (VPDO) examination conducted by the commission in 2016. The arrests made on Saturday are the biggest action taken by the STF in the recruitment scam investigation so far.
The action is stated to have been encouraged by chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami policy of zero tolerance for corruption. Appreciating the action taken by STF, Dhami said, “The investigation agencies are doing their job. Nobody who has played with the rights of the State’s youths will be spared. The government is ensuring that all recruitment exams are clean and transparent in the future. The action taken on Saturday is an example to warn anyone against orchestrating malpractices in these exams in the future.”
According to officials, the UKSSSC had conducted the VPDO exams on March 6, 2016 at 236 examination centres in 13 districts of the State. A total of 87,196 candidates had appeared in this exam, the result of which was declared on March 30. Considering the number of complaints regarding irregularities in the exam, the State government had set up an inquiry committee under the then additional chief secretary in 2017.
On the basis of the committee’s report and directions of the high court, the results of the said examination were cancelled after irregularities in the examination were confirmed. In 2019, the inquiry was handed over to the Vigilance Establishment on the directions of the Personnel and Vigilance secretary. As the alleged irregularities in the exam were confirmed in an open inquiry by the Vigilance Establishment, a case was registered under various sections of IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act after securing the permission of the State administration. The matter was being investigated from 2020 to 2022 by Vigilance Establishment. In August this year, the probe was transferred to the STF on the chief minister’s directions.
The STF collected evidence and took the inquiry forward. In the past the inquiry committee had sent the OMR sheet of the exam to FSL which had confirmed tampering with the OMR sheet. The investigation also ascertained that the tasks related to OMR scanning/final result were done in the home of the then UKSSSC secretary Monahor Singh Kanyal. More than two dozen candidates were identified and their statements were recorded by the STF.
The statements of many important witnesses were also recorded in the court, which are important evidences in the case. In the past the STF had arrested three accused- Mukesh Kumar Sharma, Mukesh Kumar and Rajesh Pal. On the basis of adequate evidence, on Saturday, the STF arrested the then chairman of UKSSSC RBS Rawat, the then secretary and currently joint secretary of accounts at secretariat, Manohar Singh Kanyal and the then examination controller Rajendra Singh Pokharia.
