Probe into supervisor aiding AMC examinee

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has ordered a probe in the alleged malpractice during the examination for the post of junior clerk on Sunday. AMC received complaints that one of the supervisors at an examination centre had helped one of the candidates.

Sources said that at Raja Bhagat School in Maninagar, one of the supervisors had helped a student write the answers. The supervisor is alleged to have given an answer booklet with the answers already written on it, to the student. Following the revelation, other candidates and their parents raised a hue and cry. Sources in the know of things said that Close Circuit Cameras Televisions (CCTV) were not working during the incident.

"Why were the CCTVs at the examination centre not working? What was the motive for keeping CCTVs off? Was this done with the instruction of the higher-ups? Why was a videographer deputed at the centre instead of having a comprehensive surveillance system?" asked a source. Following the complaints, police have initiated an investigation into the matter.

Opposition Congress lashed out at the BJP and demanded that examinations be conducted afresh. "The claims of transparency in administration is merely lip service. The malpractice is because the authorities want their preferred candidates to get selected. AMC is playing with the careers of honest and talented candidates," said Dinesh Sharma, leader of the opposition in AMC.

The examination was being conducted for 434 posts of junior clerk, for which AMC had received 1,52,450 applications. Mayor Bijal Patel said that close to 84,000 candidates had appeared for the exams.

Earlier, Shahnawaz Shaikh, councillor of Jamalpur ward, had alleged that the BJP-run AMC has turned a normal recruitment drive into a money-minting exercise. "AMC had earned Rs 1.7 crore just as application fees from the students," alleged Shaikh.

Talking to DNA, Patel said that she has ordered that an inquiry be conducted into the allegations. "We will not tolerate any wrongdoing. We want the truth to come out. Such events tarnish the image of the AMC. We don't want it to happen," she said.

HAND-IN-GLOVE

• Sources said that at Raja Bhagat School in Maninagar, one of the supervisors had helped a student write the answers on Sunday
   
• The supervisor is alleged to have given an answer booklet with the answers already written on it, to the student