Haryana: 41 of 100 questions identical in two CET papers held on two consecutive days

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Singh Surjewala said, “When the level of questions to be asked in Group 56 was 10+2 and graduation level for Group 57, then 41 of 100 questions getting repeated in both exams clearly indicate a malafide.”

He added, “A thorough inquiry should be conducted and those who set the question papers and played with the future of thousands of unemployed youth should be blacklisted and dealt with sternly,” he added.
The 41 questions that were repeated in Group 56 were questions 2, 4, 6, 11, 13, 16, 18, 22, 24, 26, 32, 37, 40, 42, 44, 49, 51, 53, 55, 59, 60, 61, 64, 66, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, 83, 86, 88, 90, 91, 92, 94, 96, 98, 99 and 100. These questions were asked in Group 57 exam on serial numbers 55, 6, 30, 9, 20, 37, 40, 43, 87, 41, 70, 35, 51, 56, 12, 42, 8, 63, 47, 39, 59, 25, 32, 14, 73, 62, 21, 89, 78, 66, 3, 38, 58, 92, 94, 91, 99, 97, 100, and 98, respectively.

This is not the first time when the examination conducted by the HSSC has raised eyebrows. In Haryana Civil Services examination, too, at least 38 questions were found to be common in two exams held on two consecutive days by HSSC.

“The HSSC that has become ‘herapheri saanth-gaanth Service Commission’ should be immediately disbanned. The HSSC members should be dismissed, handcuffed and thrown behind bars. The suspected involvement of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala, who is playing with the future of thousands of youth, should be probed by a sitting high court judge,” Surjewala said.

The CET is already under the scanner of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Hearing an appeal by HSSC on August 5, a division bench ordered that the CET examination shall continue, however, the result shall not be declared till a final decision is taken on the appeal.

One of the candidates said, “In Group 57, 30,000 candidates took that examination on August 6. The Group 56 examination was taken by 38,000 candidates. All those who appeared in both exams would definitely have got an edge over those who did not take sit for both papers. What is our fault?”

Activist Shweta Dhull, who had been spearheading the campaign against unemployment in Haryana, said: “Eligibility for the Group 57 examination was 10+2, while it was graduation for Group 56 examination. If a candidate is unemployed, he would definitely want to appear for both exams. With questions in such large numbers getting repeated, they would definitely have an edge over those who sat for only one exam.”

She added that both examinations enable a candidate to get Group C posts, but at different levels depending on the educational qualification.

While HSSC officials were not available for comment, Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala said, “I shall take up this matter with the chief minister and request him that this issue should be dealt with seriously. I would not like to comment any further on this subject at this stage”.

A senior Haryana government officer said, “All appointments shall be made on merit. The government is aware of the matter and shall take adequate measures to ensure that only deserving candidates are selected.”

Congress’ Bhupinder Singh Hooda said, “…it has become clear from repeated copying in CET Mains that the government does not want to hold recruitment… even when the process starts, something happens that derails the entire process. Copy-pasting questions has become the new formula for paper leak by the BJP-JJP government. To benefit its candidates in HCS and Group C and D, the government is getting papers leaked.”

“An organisation like HSSC, which cannot conduct even a single paper smoothly, should be dissolved without delay and a high-level inquiry should be conducted into all recruitment scams that have taken place so far,” he added.