|| DR RAJA MUZAFFAR BHAT
The recent incidents of mass copying during the written test conducted by Jammu & Kashmir Services Selection Recruitment Board (SSRB) for various Government posts (graduate level) has shocked everyone. Nobody had imagined that job aspirants would resort to malpractice at such an age when they are considered to be matured enough to face the day today challenges. Media , Political parties , Civil society , youth organizations etc are only blaming SSRB and Government for all mismanagement and unfair means. Nobody has raised voice against our own youth who resorted to all such unethical and disreputable practices on December 25th 2015 when these exams were held in different areas across J&K state.
This doesn’t mean that I won’t raise questions against the SSRB management , but we as a society are also equally responsible for these unprincipled acts. The aspirants for these Graduate level jobs complained of mass copying and cheating at a number of exam centers in different areas of state right from Lakhanpur to Kupwara and Doda to Rajouri. Muzaffar Ahmad a resident from Dreygam Budgam who has a Post Graduate degree in History told me that he had applied for the post of Sub Inspector Excise & Taxation under State Finance Ministry , but as soon as he entered his exam centre at Vishwa Bharti College at Rainawari Srinagar, this young man was shocked to see many candidates were casually using their mobile phones and the invigilators were hardly bothered. The incidents of mass copying were reported from examination centers at Luthra College of Education and Sacred Heart College of Education in Jammu .
The pictures of after mass copying went viral on social media especially facebook which kicked off a massive debate on social media. Majority people on social media blame Government and SSRB authorities for the incidents of mass copying , but I hardly found anyone who would have blamed those black sheep as well who adopted unfair means during the written exams. I got as many as two dozen messages on facebook and wattsapp asking me to write about these malpractices. I had initially made my mind to grill SSRB and Government, but suddenly I thought why are we only blaming them ? We people are also equally responsible for it. I know some youth who talk of moral values , ethics and other similar things and keep posting such Issues on their facebook walls.
Majority people on social media blame Government and SSRB authorities for the incidents of mass copying , but I hardly found anyone who would have blamed those black sheep as well who adopted unfair means during the written exams.
I have come to know through some people that these so called ethical people were also involved in unethical practices during the written test conducted on Dec 25th by SSRB.
SSRB needs to be Institutionalized :
In Badehrwah the exam centre only accommodated 100 aspirants and rest of the 300 candidates were asked to sit under the open sky. Within just ten minutes majority of these youth took out their mobile phones and started indulging in examination malpractices. It was always a demand of job aspirants that SSRB exams be conducted at district level as candidates faced lot of inconvenience travelling all the way to Srinagar or Jammu cities from various districts and far off places but when the authorities accepted this demand and exam centers were established at district and sub division level , the youth chose the path of unfair means. The SSRB authorities being a professional organization should have taken precautionary measures to curb this menace. If Board of School Education (BOSE) can seek security and other assistance from local administration, why didn’t SSRB do the same ?
Why didn’t police and invigilators went for frisking the candidates ? Why were the mobile phones allowed inside the exam halls ? Why didn’t SSRB issue an advance notice prohibiting job aspirants not to be bring their cell phones inside exam centers ? SSRB as well as invigilators made a mockery of this written test. These exams should be cancelled at any cost otherwise asking job aspirants to appear for these written tests has no meaning as this is going to benefit the undeserving candidates. An upright KAS officer has been posted as Secretary in SSRB few months back , but unless he gets full cooperation from his Chairman and members the situation will become must worst. SSRB should conduct exams in selected centers say 5 each in Jammu and Kashmir regions.
The SSRB authorities being a professional organization should have taken precautionary measures to curb this menace. If Board of School Education (BOSE) can seek security and other assistance from local administration, why didn’t SSRB do the same ?
The centers should mandatory have CCTV facility. Members from sub ordinate Judiciary should also be appointed as members of SSRB and all the interviews should be video recorded. SSRB earns crores of rupees as revenue every year but this organization still uses all the obsolete methods to address grievance of youth. People especially the unemployed youth are asked to appear for RTI appeal hearings physically. How can an unemployed appellant from Kupwara or Kishtwar come to SSRB’s Jammu or Srinagar office to appear for an RTI appeal hearing ?
The SSRB should avail video conferencing facilities to address these issues. Unless SSRB won’t make drastic reforms for conducting exams in a transparent manner such incidents would continue. In addition to it the officials of SSRB should be occasionally deputed to reputed institutions across India for getting better training and capacity building . It must be also ensured that all the officials who are trained at these institutions should not be transferred outside SSRB at least for a given specific time.
Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat is Founder and Convener of Jammu Kashmir RTI Movement Feedback: [email protected]
