Chandigarh, July 28
Senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia today rolled out skeletons from the Aam Aadmi Party’s cupboard by disclosing how the government had corrupted two more examination processes, even as he called for a high court monitored probe into all examination paper leaks in Punjab.
Addressing a press conference here, the SAD leader said though there had been six major paper leaks during the last four years, more scams were coming out in the open. He said in the case of the examination for recruiting Senior Assistants, thirteen candidates had answered the same questions wrongly in two different sets of the same paper. “This proves the candidates were guided on which exact questions to answer wrongly pointing to corruption in the entire examination process”.
Majithia said similarly in the case of the Punjab State Rural Livelihood Mission examination thirty marks fixed for interview were awarded arbitrarily to such an extent that the high court had stepped in and formed a committee and asked it to meet in his chamber to take corrective steps. “This is the level to which the system has been destroyed that judges are forced to intercede to treat the rot”. He said the Excise Inspector examination paper had also been stayed by the high court due to large-scale irregularities including fictitious names of institutions being listed in the selected list of candidates.
The Akali leader also exposed the AAP lie that no paper leak had occurred in Punjab. He presented a tweet released by the chief minister on March 13, 2023 in which the latter admitted that the Punjab State Teacher Eligibility Test (PSTET) had been leaked. “This coupled with recent paper leaks, including the Pharmacy Officers paper leak in which Bluetooth devices were used to leak the paper from the examination centre, prove that the entire examination system has been compromised. “Only a high court monitored probe can provide justice to the five lakh affected students as well as ensure exemplary punishment to those guilty including ministers like Harjot Bains”. He demanded education minister Harjot Bains, health minister Balbir Singh and the chief minister tender their resignations immediately by accepting accountability for the paper leaks.
Majithia also took on the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) for adopting double standards on the paper leak. “The CJP should not have two different standards for Delhi and Punjab. If it does not hold the AAP government accountable for the paper leaks in Punjab it will mean it has an understanding with AAP. Abhijit Dipke should clearly tell whether Punjab lives matter or not”. Mr Majithia while talking about AAP leader Manish Sisodia’s suggestion that Sonam Wangchuk should be made the union education minister, said “better still would be to make him chief minister of Punjab. At least there won’t be any corruption then”, he added.
Majithia also asked the AAP leaders, particularly its Scheduled Caste legislators, why they had not condemned the barbaric attack on women safai sewaks in Barnala besides brutalities meted out to MNREGA workers and PSPCL lineman recently. He said the AAP government had not seen it fit to register a case against the police officers who assaulted women safai sewaks on their heads with ‘lathis’. “Such officers, including DSP Satvir Singh Bains, should be dismissed immediately”. He also condemned the chief minister for wasting Rs 7.5 crore on providing school bags pasted with his picture to students instead of giving them books and removing teacher vacancies in schools. “Such cheap gimmicks and refusal to address the real issues in the education sector are responsible for the steep drop in admission to class ten and twelve standards in government schools”, he added.