The Public Service Commission has scrapped the tests taken by two examinees after finding that their close kin — father and husband — were among the question paper moderators and examiners.

Antima Kumari Sinha and Indira Dhakal Gautam appeared in the exams held by PSC for the post of School Supervisor (a section officer level post in education service) on March 17, but interestingly Sinha’s father Ram Swarup Sinha, a former government secretary, and Gautam’s husband Surya Prasad Gautam, currently joint-secretary at the Ministry of Education, were not only the question paper moderators but also the ones who were to check their daughter and wife’s answer sheets.

Joint-secretary Gautam is the recipient of last year’s ‘excellent civil service award’ that carries a purse of Rs 2 lakhs. Ram Swarup Sinha and Surya Prasad Gautam were included by PSC as experts for preparing question papers and checking answer sheets.

Issuing a public notice yesterday, PSC said it had removed the duo from its ‘experts’ list’ for breaching PSC’ Work Procedure Rule-2067.

According to the Rule, experts should shun checking any answer sheets if their family members and relatives are among the examinees. “Sinha and Gautam deliberately got involved in preparing the question papers and checking the answer sheets,” said PSC in its notice.

Assistant Spokesperson for PSC Rabilal Pantha said every time they were handed answer sheets to check, they were clearly reminded of the Rule. More than 4,000 job aspirants took the exam in March for 30 posts, and a merit list was published on September 5. Antima Sinha’s name was in the merit list under Madhesi, Women and Open Competition category, whereas Indira Gautam’s name was in the Women and Open Competition category. They were just an interview away to get the job.

After the merit list was published, a written complaint was lodged at PSC following which PSC had carried out an investigation into the matter.

Welcoming PSC’s yesterday’s decision, PSC employees’ union leader Torna Katuwal said the unions have also drawn the attention of Acting Chairperson of PSC Kayodevi Yami to the incident. The PSC employees have demanded that the office forward the case to the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority for initiating departmental action against Joint-secretary Gautam. They have also asked PSC to draw the Cabinet’s attention to keep in record that Sinha is not awarded any politically-appointed job.

When asked, CIAA Spokesperson Ishwari Prasad Paudel said the anti-graft body would make a move only after PSC forwards the case. When former secretary Sinha was contacted, he said the answer sheets were coded and therefore there was no way to identify which one was his daughter’s. There was no response from Joint-secretary Gautam despite THT’s repeated SMSes and phone calls. Antima and Indira today jointly moved the Supreme Court ‘seeking justice’.

source:The Himalayan Times,11 OCt 2012