Srinagar, Nov 12: JKSSB on Thursday clarifies that a viral video has been circulated on Social Media by some unscrupulous persons with the malafide intention and ulterior motives, Legal action will be initiated against such persons involved in circulating the said video wherein baseless and motivated allegations have been made.
In a statement issued to Kashmir Mirror they said “This is with reference to a video clip circulated on social media purportedly relating to one Examination Centre of Accounts Assistant(Panchayat) Examination conducted on 10.11.2020 by the J&K Services Selection Board(JKSSB). In the said video clip, some of the candidates are seen moving outside the rooms of the Examination Centre making allegations of irregularities/delayed providing of question paper to the candidates etc during the conduct of examination. After verification it was found that the said video clip pertained to the Examination Centre established in the Divya Hr. Sec School, Gadi Garh, District Jammu. Accordingly, report was sought from the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Law and Order) Jammu who also was appointed as District Observer by the General Administration Department for the said examination.
Additional Deputy Commissioner, Jammu after verifying the matter, reported that:
Examination Centre at Divya Hr. Sec School, Gadi Garh, was allotted 700 candidates, out of which 550 appeared for the written test.
Observer, Centre Superintendent, Dy. Superintendent and 29 invigilators (appointed by randomization) were assigned duties in the 29 halls.
Reportedly, there was slight delay in distribution of Question Paper/OMR sheets in one room (library) of the said Examination Centre by the invigilator namely Mr. Raghunath Sharma, Teacher Government Higher Secondary, Mawa Brahmna, who was looking disoriented and some of the candidates in this particular hall raised concern before the 12.00 Noon about delay in the distribution of OMR sheets as the Room invigilator Mr. Raghunath Sharma left the room without intimating the Centre Superintendent and also the Observer and upon this student came out of the room and material was not given to them.
Immediately, the Centre superintendent along with Observers and Dy. Superintendent rushed towards the said hall and convince the students and material was provided on time and examination was conducted smoothly by assigning the duty of the invigilator to the Dy. Superintendent. After that the exam was conducted smoothly and 22 students of that Hall appeared in the examination satisfactorily.
Centre Observer reported that examination was conducted very smoothly and without any malpractice. She also reported that there was no hindrance / protest neither during the conduct of examination nor after conclusion of examination.
Deputy Chief Education officer has been asked to inquire into the reason and circumstances, the said invigilator left the room and furnish the report for taking necessary action against him under rules.
Additional Dy. Commissioner in his report has given the findings that “as per the reports from various sources examination at the said centres has been conducted smoothly and material has been provided to students well in time and this appears to be a mischief on the part of some candidate as afterthought consideration after fully participating in the said examination”.
The Board after examining the report of Additional Deputy Commissioner Jammu has concluded that :
The examination in the Divya Hr. Sec School, Gadi Garh, District Jammu has been conducted in a fair and transparent manner.
The viral video has been circulated on Social Media by some unscrupulous persons with the malafide intention and ulterior motives. Legal action will be initiated against such persons involved in circulating the said video wherein baseless and motivated allegations have been made.
Deputy Commissioner, Jammu has been requested to initiate necessary disciplinary action against the said invigilator who left his duties midway without informing the authorities, due to which whole incident occurred.
It would be relevant to add that a multilayered structure for supervision was established by Deputy Commissioner for each centre by appointing one Centre Observer and Centre Superintendent, in addition to Magistrate. Moreover, approximately 8000 invigilators were appointed by District Administration for the smooth conduct of examination. Besides, there was one General Observer appointed by the General Administration Department. In addition, one officer of the JKSSB was also monitoring the Examination Centres in each District. Moreover, flying squads were deployed by the Deputy Commissioners on the day of examination and continuous monitoring of examination was done by J&K SSB and District Administration by establishment of Control rooms at the Divisional and District Level respectively. Respective Deputy Commissioner’s were also monitoring the conduct of examination. .
Besides, it is important to note that the examination material was stored in Strong Rooms in the Districts under the supervision of respective Deputy Commissioners. On the day of examination, it was transported to the Examination Centre in the strict security cover under the supervision of Magistrate and Centre Observer, along with the Centre Superintendents.
It is also clarified that as per SOP about 15 minutes before the scheduled time OMR sheets are distributed amongst candidates for filling the particulars and reading instructions. Sealed question booklets are distributed amongst the candidates five minutes before the scheduled time of start of examination. Examination is commenced with the Centre Superintendent/invigilator announcing the start at the scheduled time.
The J&K Services Selection Board conducted OMR based Objective Type Written Examination for post of Accounts Assistant Panchayat in the department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj on 10-10-2020 from 12.00 noon to 2.00 pm. The said examination was conducted smoothly across 750 examination centres set up in all the districts of UT of J&K with the maximum 173 examination centres in districts Jammu and 7 exam centres in district Shopian. No reports of any malpractice or unfair means has been received from Centre Observers, District Observers, Flying squads or District Administration.
Out of 1,90,0048 applicants, around 1.62 lakh candidates appeared in the written examination which was conducted fairly, smoothly and transparently with the active cooperation and support of district administration of all the J&K UT including police, education, health and other related departments.