'Private vendors responsible': Education rights group blames govt for cancelling SSC exams

By A Representative 

The All India Save Education Committee (AISEC) has strongly condemned the cancellation of the Gujarat Secondary Service Commission (SSC) exams, calling it a gross betrayal of lakhs of aspirants and a reflection of systemic corruption. The organisation held the Gujarat government directly responsible for recurring paper leaks and questioned its growing reliance on private agencies for conducting public recruitment exams.

In a statement issued by Dr. Kanubhai Khadadiya, Joint Secretary of AISEC (Gujarat Chapter), the committee denounced the outsourcing of crucial public recruitment processes to private companies, many of which lack transparency, accountability, and capacity. According to AISEC, the recent scam once again exposes how this outsourcing model is enabling organized corruption at the cost of the youth’s future.

AISEC said that instead of strengthening constitutional bodies like the Gujarat Public Service Commission (GPSC), the government is bypassing them by assigning exam responsibilities to private vendors. This, it said, has led to repeated breaches in exam security and unfair advantages for those with money and connections, eroding public trust in the recruitment process.

The organisation stated that cancellation of exams without identifying the actual culprits — often shielded due to political or bureaucratic connections — amounts to punishing the victims, i.e., the students. It demanded a high-level judicial inquiry to uncover the full extent of the scam, including the role of private firms hired to manage the exams.

Dr. Khadadiya warned that the youth of Gujarat are rapidly losing faith in the system and that such scams, which now occur with alarming frequency, threaten to destabilize both the aspirations of individuals and the democratic fabric of the state. AISEC called for a complete overhaul of the recruitment process, the reconstitution of the GPSC, and immediate measures to ensure the fair and timely re-conduct of the cancelled exams.

The statement concluded with an appeal to civil society, student organisations, and democratic forces to oppose the privatisation of the recruitment system and to stand united in demanding transparency, justice, and accountability in public examinations.