A CBI inquiry has been ordered into the CGL exam conducted by the Staff Selection Commission
- The government's unequivocal assurance came after Supreme Court Chief Justice Dipak Misra agreed to hear a petition on 12 March that sought a court-monitored CBI probe into the recruitment exam conducted by the Staff Selection Commission, or SSC.
- "We have accepted demands of protesting candidates and have given orders for CBI inquiry... protest should now stop," Home Minister Rajnath Singh announced.
- The commission is the government's lead body for recruitment to subordinate posts such as tax inspectors, clerical staff and accountants. It annually processes about 38 lakh job applications.
- The crowd outside the SSC headquarters, the epicentre of the protests, started thinning out after the Home Minister's announcement. But several hundred aspirants stayed put. One of them told NDTV they will move out only after they see the document ordering the probe.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi had ended the practice of holding interviews for these posts in 2015 to end the possibility of any malpractice. But allegations of malpractices in examinations conducted by the commission have continued.
- The SSC had switched over to computer-based examination a few years back, hoping it would clean up the examination process but complaints have continued to pour.
- Many of the complaints are seen to be fallout of inadequate supervision over the private centres where the computer-based test is held.
- When screenshots of some objective-type questions went viral after an examination on February 21, it fuelled allegations of malpractices. The commission cancelled one paper of the Combined Graduate Level Examination (Tier II).
- SSC chairman Ashim Khurana had initially denied any foul play in the examination and called the snapshots on social media not just "manipulated" but also "having no significance on the sanctity of the examination".
- As the protests continued, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the Congress also backed the candidates, demanding that the government order a comprehensive inquiry into the recruitment exams. Lok Sabha member from Bihar Pappu Yadav had also moved an adjournment motion to press for an inquiry in the Lok Sabha.