The recruitment of 1,200 police officers has been cancelled in Jammu and Kashmir following large-scale corruption in the exams. This was Jammu and Kashmir's first significant recruitment drive after the abrogation of its special status in 2019.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation probe and promised action against the guilty days after a probe panel headed by RK Goyal, Additional Chief Secretary Home J&K, submitted its report. The panel has found large-scale corruption and manipulation of the merit list of police Sub- Inspectors released by the J&K Services Selection Board (JKSSB) last month.
"JKP Sub-Inspector recruitment has been cancelled & a CBI probe has been recommended into the selection process. Culprits will be brought to justice soon. It's a first big step towards securing the future of our youth and the government will soon decide the future course of action for fresh recruitment," Governor Sinha tweeted.
Around 97,000 candidates appeared in exams conducted by the JKSSB. Days after the merit list of sub-inspectors was made public last month, serious discrepancies surfaced. Among the toppers in the list were siblings from 20 families, raising doubts about the fairness of the selection process. Also, the selection of dozens of candidates from a specific area and specific centre in Jammu raised eyebrows.
Thousands of aggrieved candidates took to the streets in Jammu and forced the administration to order a probe. The protesters alleged massive corruption and manipulation of the merit list.
Political parties also demanded an impartial probe alleging massive corruption in the administration which has been claiming to have ended corruption in the absence of an elected government in Jammu and Kashmir.
After Jammu and Kashmir was stripped of its statehood and special constitutional status in August 2019, the administration promised to fill 50,000 vacancies in government departments within three months. But even after three years, not many posts have been filled and the recruitment process has been very slow and tardy. In one such example, over 3 lakh candidates appeared for selection in 8,000 class IV posts two years ago but the final list of selected candidates is still awaited.
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