Explained: What is Karnataka’s power corporation recruitment scam?

What is the KPTCL recruitment examination?

The Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) is the sole electricity transmission and distribution company of Karnataka, owned by the state government. The Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) holds examinations for the recruitment of KPTCL.

On January 24 this year, the KPTCL invited applications to fill up 1,492 posts in the department. This included 505 assistant engineers (power), 28 assistant engineers (civil), 570 junior engineers (power), 29 junior engineers (civil) and 360 junior assistants. The examinations for technical posts were held on August 23 and 24, and aptitude tests for junior assistants, as well as the Kannada language examination for technical positions, were held on 7 August.

How did the malpractice come to light?

The police recently arrested a man named Siddappa Madihalli in the Belagavi district as he was found to be using a smartwatch while writing the examination. He was receiving answers from those helping him on the outside.

An aspirant complained to the staff about it and when CCTV footage was checked, the use of unfair means was evident. A person on a farm near Shirahatti, about 30 km away from the examination centre, had received a question paper via the Telegram app and was sending him the answers.

While police took Siddappa into custody and raided the farm, they found a question paper copy carrying the registration number of the Municipal College in Gadag. The probe led to the conclusion that the question paper was leaked from Gadag municipal college, where vice principal Maruti Sonavane and his son Samith Kumar were found to be involved. Kumar had entered the examination centre in the disguise of a journalist and had taken photos of the question paper.

What does the investigation suggest and who has been arrested?

Before the latest arrests, the police had arrested nine people. Belagavi district SP Sanjeev M Patil said malpractice took place in JSS PU College in Gokak and Municipal College in Gadag, and that some of the examination centres in Athani in Belagavi district were also compromised. Among those arrested, there are aspirants who wrote examinations, people who leaked question papers, and also some government officials. Police suspect that Sanjay Bandari alias Sanju is the kingpin of the scam and that his gang is believed to have collected Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh from candidates to provide answers using electronic gadgets, including smartwatches and Bluetooth devices.

What do Karnataka’s political parties say?

With another recruitment scam coming to light, the Congress state chief DK Shivakumar criticised the government, saying: “Unemployment in Karnataka state is increasing and recruitment scams like this are posing a threat to youth’s future. We will take stern action’ is what the BJP says, but never implements.”

General secretary of the Congress, Randeep Surjewala, alleged that it is “another scam of 40% commission”, referring to the alleged suicide of a contactor earlier this year in Karnataka, where private contractors claimed afterwards the Basavaraj Bommai government had a fixed rate of bribes. Karnataka’s power minister V Sunil Kumar said there will be action once they get the final report.