UP: Protest Against RO/ARO Paper Leak Continues in Prayagraj, Chorus for CBI Probe Grows Louder

Lucknow: Candidates of Review Officer (RO)/Assistant Review Officer (ARO) Preliminary Examination-2023 conducted by the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) at the dharna site next to Pathar Girija Ghar of Civil Lines in Prayagraj district continued their protest on Friday and demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the paper leak. 

The protesting aspirants alleged that the leaked original question paper was copied using photostat, scan, voice typing and Google Lens instead of typing so that it could not ascertained from which centre the paper got leaked. There is a possibility of a big, well-planned racket behind the paper leak, said the protesters. Therefore, they are demanding that the entire incident should be investigated by CBI so that no one could muster the courage to play with the future of lakhs of students in the future.

However, since a First Information Report (FIR) has not yet been lodged by UPPSC against the accused involved in the paper leak, the candidates are raising questions over the intentions of the commission itself.

Several candidates wanted to know that when evidence had already been handed over to UPPSC, why was the commission hesitating from taking any concrete action. The evidence of paper leak has been submitted to the commission along with an affidavit on behalf of the candidates.

Showing multiple screenshots of WhatsApp conversations of a person claiming to provide exact questions against money and PDF files on paper being received one day before the exam, the candidates demanded a CBI inquiry. 

“Our movement will grow stronger in the coming days until the government ensures us of cancellation of the examination and announces the date for re-conducting the exam," a protesting candidate, Abhay, told NewsClick, adding that there was ample evidence that the paper was leaked in a “pre-planned” manner.

Another candidate, Shubham Mishra, told NewsClick: "The paper’s leak is playing with the future of lakhs of eligible candidates. The administration seems to have completely failed. Apart from the UP Police constable and RO, ARO paper leak, the question paper of intermediate biology and mathematics subjects, conducted in second shift on Thursday, was also allegedly leaked. Instead of stopping paper leaks, they (government) are wasting students' time by not announcing a date for re-exam. "

The protesting aspirants claimed that the future of over six lakh candidates was at stake for 411 posts. "There is palpable anger and disappointment among lakhs of candidates due to the paper leak. Due to the exact answer key going viral, claims of complete transparency are under doubt. The UPPSC should also provide evidence of its impartiality, otherwise it should announce cancellation of this paper so that ineligible and corrupt persons do not get selected,” said another aspirant.

Meanwhile, Amitabh Thakur, former IPS (Indian Police Service) officer and national president of Azad Adhikar Sena, while presenting direct evidence of the paper leak in the RO/ARO preliminary examination, demanded that the government and the commission should cancel the examination, register an FIR in this regard and conduct a CBI investigation.

In a letter written to the Additional Chief Secretary of the Appointments Department and Secretary of Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission, Thakur alleged that a candidate of the examination centre located near Atala Masjid, Jaunpur, had told him that the exam question paper of the second shift had been sent to him on his mobile at 12.40 p.m. That candidate has given all the details including the mobile numbers of two other people, through whom the question paper was received. The candidate reportedly told Thakur that 8-10 candidates had already received the question papers in their room. 

The examination, conducted on February 11 at 2,387 centres across 58 districts in Uttar Pradesh, had seen participation from 64% of the total 10,76,004 registered candidates. A total of 411 vacancies were to be filled via the examination. The UPPSC RO/ARO recruitment 2023 selection process comprises three rounds of examinations -- preliminary, main and typing test.

During the first shift of the exam, candidates created a ruckus at an examination centre in Ghazipur, alleging that the paper was leaked. They alleged that the paper's seal was broken before the exam in the morning shift. 

The protest against RO/ARO paper leak took an ugly turn in Prayagraj on Monday when the police chased, kicked and lathi-charged aspirants when a group of candidates tried to protest outside the UPPSC office, as reported earlier by NewsClick.