Pune (Maharashtra) [India], August 26 (ANI): The Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) has cancelled the entire recruitment process for the post of Drug Inspector in the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Department following irregularities in the examination, prompting NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar to demand the resignation of the MPSC chairman and secretary.
The decision came after an investigation by the Crime Investigation Branch reportedly found that one candidate had gained prior access to the question paper.
Pawar, who had been raising the issue since the allegations first surfaced, welcomed the cancellation of the recruitment process and said it was a victory for the students who had been fighting against the alleged irregularities.
Addressing a press conference in Pune, Pawar said many of the candidates preparing for competitive examinations come from farming and ordinary families, whose parents make significant sacrifices to support their children's education.
"Many students preparing here come from farmer and ordinary families. Even after 10-12 years, the prices of soybean and cotton have remained almost the same, while inflation has increased tremendously. Even the prices of tea and poha have tripled," Pawar said.
"Parents sacrifice their own needs and borrow money to send their children here to study and pay their education fees. Destroying the dreams of students and their parents because of a paper leak is a sin. We have taken up this fight to ensure that students get justice," he added.
Pawar also alleged that he has faced threats for raising the issue.
"I speak only with evidence. But whenever I raise my voice, I am threatened with being sent to jail," he said.
Targeting the MPSC leadership, Pawar alleged that the Commission's chairman is close to a "very powerful leader" and questioned his appointment.
"The MPSC chairman is a friend of a very powerful leader. When he was the RTO commissioner, there were discussions across Maharashtra about the irregularities during his tenure. If you appoint such an officer as the chairman, we will not accept it," Pawar said.
He demanded that the MPSC chairman and secretary take "moral responsibility" for the episode and resign.
"If they do not resign within the stipulated time, we will hold an intense protest outside the Commission's office on September 1 and demand answers from them," Pawar said.
Pawar also opposed any move to shift MPSC examinations entirely online, saying students wanted examinations to continue in the offline format.
"Earlier too, there have been allegations of question paper leaks in examinations conducted for Water Resources, State Excise, Talathi, MHADA, SRPF and MMRDA. If the government is now trying to move towards online examinations because an offline paper was leaked, we will not accept it. Irregularities can take place in online examinations as well," he said.
"We want examinations to be conducted offline through the MPSC and under the leadership of a clean and credible officer," he added.
On the FDA examination, Pawar claimed that the government and officials had initially denied that the question paper had been leaked.
"Earlier, the government and officials were saying that the FDA paper had not been leaked. However, after we provided evidence and issued an ultimatum, they finally had to accept it. Information has emerged that three officials were involved in the paper leak. The exact FIRs registered against them should be made public," he said.
Pawar also made a reference to the NEET controversy, saying, "I will not say much about NEET, but because of these paper leak cases, a senior leader has had to go home."
Students had earlier met MNS chief Raj Thackeray over the alleged irregularities in the Drug Inspector examination. The issue was also raised by a student during Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi's 'Chhatron Ki Goonj' programme in Pune. (ANI)
'MPSC chairman, secretary must resign': Rohit Pawar after FDA Drug Inspector recruitment cancelled
