Group-1 Exam Irregularities Unprecedented, Says Naidu

Vijayawada:Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday alleged that unprecedented irregularities took place in the conduct and evaluation of APPSC Group-1 examinations during the YSRC government’s term.

This, he said, seriously compromised the credibility of the recruitment process for senior state officials.

Participating in a special discussion in the assembly, Naidu said procedures were flouted at several stages, with answer scripts allegedly being evaluated by electricians, drivers, plumbers, security guards, homemakers, unemployed persons, sales executives and laboratory technicians instead of qualified university professors and heads of department.

He said 1.14 lakh candidates had applied for the Group-1 notification issued in 2018 and 325 were shortlisted. Despite the importance of the examination, answer scripts were handled without adequate security. He contrasted this with the Class 10 examination scripts, which are transported under police escort.

Naidu alleged that after the high court directed a manual evaluation instead of a digital evaluation, affidavits were filed in a manner that misled the court. Instead of correcting the process, orders worth ` 1.19 crore were issued to facilitate evaluation at the Hai-Land resort, he claimed.

Interviews and appointments were also conducted while court orders were in force. The HC later constituted a three-member committee headed by a retired judge to inquire into the matter.

According to Naidu, a panel of 158 persons was selected for evaluation, of whom 72 were assigned duties, while 25 were allegedly appointed unofficially. Another 66 unofficial evaluators were involved. Evaluation material was allegedly sent to private laptops and answer-script PDFs were shared through private email accounts, Google Drive and WhatsApp.

Scripts were moved from the APPSC strong room without authorisation and kept at Hai-Land for 84 days. About ` 1.14 crore was spent on logistics.

Naidu said that after Gautam Sawang became APPSC chairman, orders were issued for manual evaluation and 49,000 duplicate OMR slips were printed. Alterations, overwriting and differences in handwriting were detected. Of 734 OMR slips examined, 718 contained alterations, while 21 had no signatures.

The CM said a candidate who appeared for the Group-1 examination was allegedly appointed as an evaluator for the same examination. Examiner lists were circulated through WhatsApp and Telegram groups. CCTV cameras were allegedly unavailable in the evaluation hall for 17 days, while mobile phones were allowed inside. Though AP PSC rules prohibit whitener, forensic reports reportedly detected its use on OMR slips.

Naidu said institutions were meant to serve the future of the youth and warned that wrongdoing must attract stringent punishment. He challenged the Opposition to answer the people in the assembly instead of resorting to conspiracies and counter-attacks.

He said the assembly was the proper forum for accountability and those responsible must explain the lapses.

Naidu said the government would comprehensively analyse the irregularities and overhaul APPSC, introducing transparent evaluation procedures and stronger security standards. Reforms, he added, would be undertaken after obtaining suggestions from the public and intellectuals to ensure such incidents do not recur.