Skip to main content

Paper leak scam: Uttarakhand govt 'fails to act effectively' against nakal mafia

Counterview Desk 

India's top civil rights network, National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM), calling the demands of Uttarakhand Berozgar Andolan legitimate, has said that the jobless who the streets last week, exposing the paper leak scams and seeking a fair recruitment mechanism and employment, are facing state repression at the hands of the BJP government.
Failing to address concerns of the unemployed youth, NAPM demanded institution of Court-monitored CBI inquiry into all the paper leak scams,even as insisting that all the youth who were arrested during protests should be released immediately.

Text:

National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) unequivocally condemns the repressive high-handedness of the BJP Government on the unemployed youth of Uttarakhand, who hit the streets last week, exposing the paper leak scams and seeking a fair recruitment mechanism and employment. We demand that all the arrested youth be immediately released and a court-monitored CBI inquiry into all the exam-paper leak scams be instituted.
While the nation’s attention is riveted on the Adani exposé, here is another mega-scam rocking the hill state of Uttarakhand: The Paper Leak Corruption Scandal or infamously called Nakal Mafia. It is outrageous that instead of dialoguing with the agitated youth and responding to their legitimate demands, the Pushkar Singh Dhami government ordered multiple rounds of lathi charge, grievously injuring some youngsters. As if this were not enough, key members of Uttarakhand Berozgar Sangh including Bobby Panwar, Ram Kandwal, Sandeep Singh, Mukesh Singh, Anil Kumar, Aman Chauhan, Shubham Singh Negi, Lusoon Toradia, Hariom, Mohan Kainthola, Ramesh Tomar, Nitin Dutt, Amit Panwar have been arrested and a range of arbitrary charges have been foisted against them. Reportedly, cases have been filed against many other youth who were part of the peaceful mobilization in the past few days.
The history of exam scams in Uttarakhand goes back at least until 2016, and over the years there have been multiple paper leaks; including for recruitments as village panchayat development officers, UKPCS, UKSSSC, AE/JE and other exams. In quite a few of these, there have been strong allegations against certain persons close to the ruling BJP as well as some officers, responsible for the paper leaks. The blatant complicity of people like Sanjay Dhariwal, Hakam Singh, Chandan Manral, Sanjeev Chaturvedi etc. has been in the open and owing to intense public pressure, some action had to be taken against a few of these alleged scamsters. However, with the kind of crackdown it has unleashed, it is evident that the State government has not only deliberately failed in taking effective action against the culprits, but wants to shield those who are responsible for the paper leaks, at any cost.
As a face-saving measure, the Chief Minister, with the assent of the Governor, has now promulgated an ordinance called the Uttarakhand Competitive Exams (Measures for Prevention of Unfair Means in Recruitment) Ordinance, 2023, which the youth term as a ‘hogwash’ and are firm on CBI inquiry and stringent action against the violators. There is also widespread outrage against the hurried conduct of the patwari and accountant (lekhapal) exams on 12th Feb, when the concerned key officer in the Exam Department (Mr Chaturvedi) has been suspended for being part of the paper leak scam.
As we all know, Uttarakhand is still reeling under the recent Joshimath disaster, which is yet another warning in a series of development-induced mishaps. Even as affected people have been struggling for fair support and rehabilitation, those who have been challenging the reckless ‘development’ and its impacts are being called names and even termed anti-nationals! This has now become a predictable trend for the BJP government to brand anyone who challenges its anti-people policies and crimes as ‘anti-nationals’.
While nation’s attention is riveted on Adani exposé, here is another mega-scam rocking the hill state of Uttarakhand
India is going through a severe crisis of joblessness and the BJP government, in particular, has miserably failed to address these concerns of millions of youth and has only been resorting to jumla, name-calling, fake cases, arrests and violence. We are given to understand that the unrest amongst the youth is intensifying across districts of Uttarakhand and there are plans for further mobilization towards Dehradun and Delhi, if the State does not relent. We are of the considered view that the Government must take meaningful measures immediately to reassure the youth, instead of responding with an iron fist.
We extend our full solidarity to the struggling youth of Uttarakhand and demand that:
  • The Government of Uttarakhand end this spree of repression and enter into immediate and constructive dialogue with youth on their legitimate demands.
  • All the 13 arrested youth be released immediately and charges foisted against them and others be dropped forthwith.
  • High level Court-monitored and time-bound CBI Inquiry into all-Paper Leak Scams in the state since 2016, be instituted and stringent action be taken against all violators, fixing command responsibility.
  • Action be taken against those officers and police personnel who ordered and executed brutal lathi charge and injured students.
NAPM salutes the thousands of young people who have taken to streets to expose these scams and despite the chilling repression, continue to challenge the corruption, brutality and might of the State through peaceful mass organizing.
The youth of India and Uttarakhand have a right to employment. They equally have a right to a fair examination and recruitment system, free of corruption and malpractices.
We appeal to the Uttarakhand Berozgar Sangh and youth of the state to continue their struggle in a firm and peaceful way. The democratic movements of India are with you.

Comments

TRENDING

Importance of Bangladesh for India amidst 'growing might' of China in South Asia

By Samara Ashrat*  The basic key factor behind the geopolitical importance of Bangladesh is its geographical location. The country shares land borders with Myanmar and India. Due to its geographical position, Bangladesh is a natural link between South Asia and Southeast Asia.  The country is also a vital geopolitical ally to India, in that it has the potential to facilitate greater integration between Northeast India and Mainland India. Not only that, due to its open access to the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh has become significant to both China and the US.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

'BBC film shows only tip of iceberg': Sanjiv Bhatt's daughter speaks at top US press club

By Our Representative   The United States' premier journalists' organisation, the National Press Club (NPC), has come down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for recent "attacks on journalists in India." Speaking at the screening of an episode of the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question,” banned in India, in the club premises, NPC President Eileen O’Reilly said, “Since Modi came to power we have watched with frustration and disappointment as his regime has suppressed the rights of its citizens to a free and independent news media."

Chinese pressure? Left stateless, Rohingya crisis result of Myanmar citizenship law

By Dr Shakuntala Bhabani*  A 22-member team of Myanmar immigration officials visited Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar to verify more than 400 Rohingya refugees as part of a pilot repatriation project. Does it hold out any hope for the forcibly displaced people to return to their ancestral homes in the Rakhine state of Myanmar? Only time will tell.

Unlike other revolutionaries, Hindutva icon wrote 5 mercy petitions to British masters

By Shamsul Islam*  The Hindutva icon VD Savarkar of the RSS-BJP rulers of India submitted not one, two,or three but five mercy petitions to the British masters! Savarkarites argue: “There are no evidences to prove that Savarkar collaborated with the British for his release from jail. In fact, his appeal for release was a ruse. He was well aware of the political developments outside and wanted to be part of it. So he kept requesting for his release. But the British authorities did not trust him a bit” (YD Phadke, ‘A complex Hero’, "The Indian Expres"s, August 31, 2004)

China ties up with India, Bangladesh to repatriate Rohingyas; Myanmar unwilling

By Harunur Rasid*  We now have a new hope, thanks to news reports that were published in the Bangladeshi dailies recently. Myanmar has suddenly taken initiatives to repatriate Rohingyas. As part of this initiative, diplomats from eight countries posted in Yangon were flown to Rakhine last week. Among them were diplomats from Bangladesh, India and China.

40,000 Odisha adolescent girls ask CM: Why is scheme to fight malnutrition on paper?

By Our Representative  In unique a postcard campaign to combat malnutrition, aimed at providing dietary diversity, considered crucial during adolescence, especially among girls, signed by about 40,000 adolescent girls from over 10,000 villages, have reminded Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik that his government's Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG), which converged with Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman  ( POSHAN ) 2.0 in 2021, is not being implemented in the State.

Natural farming: Hamirpur leads the way to 'huge improvement' in nutrition, livelihood

By Bharat Dogra*  Santosh is a dedicated farmer who along with his wife Chunni Devi worked very hard in recent months to convert a small patch of unproductive land into a lush green, multi-layer vegetable garden. This has ensured year-round supply of organically grown vegetables to his family as well as fetched several thousand rupees in cash sales.

Over-stressed? As Naveen Patnaik turns frail, Odisha 'moves closer' to leadership crisis

By Sudhansu R Das  Not a single leader in Odisha is visible in the horizon who can replace Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. He has ruled Odisha for nearly two and half decades. His father, Biju Patnaik, had built Odisha; he was a daring pilot who saved the life of Indonesia’s Prime Minister Sjahrir and President Sukarno when the Dutch army blocked their exit.