Cheating row in police recruitment: Ex-Himachal CM demands CM's resignation, SIT probe into exam scam
Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], June 20 (ANI): Former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur on Friday launched a blistering attack on the Congress-led state government over the recent allegations of mass cheating and irregularities in the police recruitment examination, calling it 'a betrayal of the youth of Himachal Pradesh'.
Thakur demanded that the government immediately constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the scam and that Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu resign on moral grounds.
'The entire recruitment process has been reduced to a mockery. Videos show blatant cheating, discussions inside exam halls, and candidates solving papers in groups. This is not just mismanagement, it's criminal. If the Chief Minister has any moral standing left, he should step down,' Thakur told reporters at a press conference in Shimla.
Thakur called the police recruitment drive the only significant recruitment drive in the past two and a half years of the Congress government's tenure, claiming that the entire process was compromised.
'This government shut down the Staff Selection Commission. After two and a half years, it held one police recruitman, which is now under serious question. The candidates have submitted video proof of cheating taking place inside examination halls in Shimla, Palampur Road, and Chamba,' he said.
'If the government claims transparency, then why not release the CCTV footage from these centres? What are they afraid of?,' Thakur asked.
He further said that there were allegations of mobile phones being allowed inside the examination halls, and that no invigilators stopped students from openly cheating.
The former CM pointed out that two individuals, Vikram and Balwinder from the Dehra area of Kangra district, were arrested in the case. But he added that just two arrests cannot cleanse a scam of this magnitude.
'Reports suggest that candidates were called to Haryana and promised success in the exam in exchange for lakhs of rupees. Transactions of up to Rs 35 lakh have been cited. Who made these promises? Who were these candidates? At least 15-16 people were summoned for investigation,' he said, adding that the matter must be investigated at a state-wide level.
'In our tenure, when similar allegations emerged, we immediately cancelled the exam and announced a SIT investigation the very next morning. We even handed over cases to the CBI when required. This government is silent and evasive.' Thakur added.
Thakur warned that candidates feared the CCTV recordings could be destroyed, much like the pen drive in the Vimal Negi case, which was formatted and later recovered.
Revisiting the promises made by Congress before the 2022 Assembly elections, Thakur said, Congress's 'guarantees' are now exposed, no jobs, no action.
'They promised 5 lakh government jobs in 5 years, and 1 lakh in the first year. But now the Chief Minister says they never made such a promise. I was in the Assembly when the Congress Guarantee Document was read out, which clearly mentioned the 5 lakh jobs. Why the contradiction now?,' Thakur said.
He alleged that most appointments during the current regime were the result of recruitment processes initiated by the previous BJP government, for which budgetary and financial clearances were already secured.
'These are not new jobs. The only new recruitment was for police, and look what happened. Even in the nursing recruitment drive, Congress is outsourcing jobs through agencies linked to their own leaders and relatives,' he said.
Thakur also criticised the outsourcing model, saying it was being used to bypass transparency and provide jobs to Congress loyalists.
He also attacked the use of outsourcing agencies in nursing and other sectors, alleging that these agencies are run by Congress leaders and their relatives, with youth getting only Rs 6,000 out of the Rs 10,000 allotted per position.
'Candidates are getting Rs 6,000 while Rs 10,000 is allocated, where is the rest of the money going? To the agencies, which are run by Congress leaders. Even in my own constituency, such practices are taking place.' He said.
Thakur said the Congress government is struggling with internal trust issues, pointing to the resignation of a young minister and the subsequent resignation of his father, a senior cabinet minister.
'Despite having a majority, their own MLAs have no faith in the leadership. In such a situation, the Chief Minister has no moral right to remain in office,' he said.
Thakur said that despite the central government providing Rs 2,006.40 crore in additional disaster relief, and over Rs 4,000 crore in total, the state government has failed to distribute aid effectively.
'Even 93,000 homes were sanctioned, but affected people are still homeless. The state government is thankless and shameless. PM Modi stood with the people of Himachal, but the state administration continues to falter.' He said.
Thakur demanded that the results of the police recruitment examination be withheld until the investigation is complete, and a statewide probe under an SIT be ordered immediately.
'This government has completely collapsed on the employment front. If serious allegations like cheating during exams are not probed, it sends a dangerous signal to the youth. I demand the Chief Minister step down and let an impartial SIT uncover the truth,' Thakur said. (ANI)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
28 minutes ago
- Mint
‘Future attacks will be greater': Donald Trump's full speech after US military struck Iran's nuclear sites
US President Donald Trump delivered an address from the White House after successful US military strikes on 3 nuclear sites in Iran. The United States recently joined Israel's air campaign against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei-led government in Iran. He termed the US attacks a 'spectacular military success' in a televised address and said, 'Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran the bully of the Middle East must now make peace.' Flanked by Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the US President asserted, 'If they do not, future attacks will be far greater, and a lot easier.' The key sites targeted in the latest attacks carried out by US military's B-2 stealth bombers were Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites. In the three-minute address, Donald Trump said, 'Tonight's was the most difficult of them all, by far, and perhaps the most lethal. But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill.' He threatened to take further military action if Iran did not make peace with Israel After Saturday's late-night address, he warned Iran of any counter retaliation against the United States and threatened to take further military action with much greater force than the June 21 attack. Donald Trump on his social media platform Truth Social wrote, 'ANY RETALIATION BY IRAN AGAINST THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL BE MET WITH FORCE FAR GREATER THAN WHAT WAS WITNESSED TONIGHT.'
Time of India
32 minutes ago
- Time of India
Bhu Bharati Act brings overhaul: Telangana sees 10 lakh grievances; 3.27 lakh registered online
HYDERABAD: Revenue minister Ponguleti SrinivasReddy on Saturday said the Congress govt is overhauling the revenue administration, which had deteriorated during the BRS's decade-long rule. He said that the Bhu Bharati Act, aimed at providing lasting solutions to long-pending land disputes in Telangana, is being implemented with seriousness and has already brought a positive shift in the system. At a review meeting with senior officials on the successful completion of revenue meets (sadassulu) across the state, the minister said over 10 lakh land-related applications were received across three phases. Between June 3 and 20, revenue meets were held in 10,239 villages across 561 mandals, during which eight lakh more applications were received. In all, 10,725 sadassulu were conducted in 593 mandals, with 8.58 lakh applications submitted. 'In the first phase, held from April 17 to 30, around 12,000 applications were submitted through 72 sadassulu across four mandals. In the second phase, which began on May 5, over 46,000 applications were collected through 414 meetings in 28 mandals. Over 60% of those issues have been resolved, excluding sadabainama cases,' he said. Sadabainama refers to a land transaction, where land ownership is recorded only on paper. Khammam district received the highest number of applications at 67,000, followed by Bhadradri Kothagudem (61,000), Warangal (54,000), Jayashankar Bhupalpally (48,000), and Nalgonda (42,000). The minister said free application forms were distributed a day prior in villages, and special teams were deployed under the supervision of tahsildars. So far, 3.27 lakh applications have been registered online, and officials have been instructed to expedite the remaining cases.
New Indian Express
33 minutes ago
- New Indian Express
38 kids of hooch victims get pending state allowance after TNIE report
KALLAKURICHI: The 38 children who had lost one or both their parents in the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy last year, and had not received the monthly allowance announced by the Tamil Nadu government for the past few months, were credited with the pending amount within three hours after TNIE brought the issue to the notice of the government. When TNIE visited Karunapuram, which accounted for 38 of the 69 people who died in the hooch tragedy this week last year, it learnt that many of the affected children had not received the monthly allowance from the state. According to the government, four children had lost both their parents while 34 lost one of their parents. The state government had announced a monthly allowance of Rs 5,000 each for the four children, and Rs 4,000 each for the 34 others. The allowances will be credited until the children turn 18, the government had said. TNIE learnt that while the four orphaned children had not received their monthly allowance for the past four months since March 2025, the remaining 34 had not received the money for the past nine months since October 2024. The four orphaned children included a girl and two boys, aged between 14 and 17, from the same family, who lost their parents R Suresh (41) and S Vadivukkarasi (39) in the tragedy. Vadivukkarasi had accidentally consumed a small quantity of the methanol-laced liquor that Suresh had left in a cup.
