It pertains to 362 posts of probationer of the 2011 batch
The State government on Thursday rejected the final list announced by the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) on March 21, for 362 posts of gazetted probationer, Group A and B, belonging to the 2011 batch.
A Cabinet meeting, presided over by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, discussed the final list submitted to the government by the KPSC and unanimously rejected it.
The Cabinet decided to issue advertisements afresh to hold the examination and also to grant age relaxation to all candidates to reappear for the exam. Over one lakh candidates of the 2011 batch had written the exam.
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T.B. Jayachandra told reporters that the list was rejected owing to “rampant corruption” in the selection of candidates. Terming the decision “historic”, he said the government had decided not to support corruption in the recruitment to gazetted posts.
The Criminal Investigation Department conducted a probe and submitted a 26-page report to the government highlighting the malpractices in the examination system. The Karnataka Administrative Tribunal, on July 2, vacated the stay on the final list announced by the KPSC, paving the way for the government to take the decision. The Cabinet had deferred its decision three times before.
“The government is convinced; the Cabinet is fully convinced. It is beyond doubt that corruption has happened and we don’t want to encourage it,” he said.
In future, the examination would be conducted as per the P.C. Hota committee recommendations accepted by the government last year. Besides filling 362 posts, a notification would be issued for filling more vacancies, he added.
The government had filed criminal cases against KPSC members, including the former chairman Gonal Bhimappa. Mangala Sridhar, member, was suspended on charges of corruption. “Prosecution of other members was also pending,” Mr. Jayachandra said.
Following discrepancies in the allotment of marks during interviews, the government suggested to the KPSC to conduct re-evaluation and also interviews again. But the KPSC rejected it on the ground that it was a constitutional body, he said. “We sympathise with those who had honestly passed the examination. The examination system itself is faulty. There was no other alternative before the government but to reject the list,” the Minister said. In fact, “the zoology paper was corrected by a history lecturer. Some members were found to be absent during interviews but shown as present,” he said.
(The Hindu)
