Explained: What is Rajasthan’s question paper leak scandal and how has the Gehlot govt reacted to REET irregularities?

What is REET?

The Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teachers (REET) is the eligibility test for the direct recruitment of primary and upper primary government school teachers in Rajasthan. The REET held in September last year was for around 31,000 posts, for which more than 16 lakh candidates were in the fray.

Qualifying REET is the basic prerequisite for applying in these posts. The exam is conducted by the RBSE, which also has the responsibility of most of the exam-related arrangements including setting the question papers. Due to the huge scale of the examination, each district administration also looked after arrangements, with heavy deployment of the police force and free bus travel provided by the government for the candidates. The exam has previously been held in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2017. Due to the four-year-long gap between the last examination in 2017 to the latest REET in 2021, a huge number of candidates were waiting for the examination to be announced.

At an exam centre in Jaipur in September 2021. (Express Photo: Rohit Jain Paras)

How did the paper leak despite a state-wide internet shutdown?

On September 26 last year, the Ashok Gehlot-led government had suspended internet services in various locations across the state to prevent irregularities during the examination. At the time, the internet shutdown had grabbed national headlines and the government had also drawn criticism over the inconveniences caused to the public because of the move. The opposition BJP had ridiculed the Congress government, with the party’s state president Satish Poonia saying that “while the Congress party raise questions when the internet is shut down in Jammu and Kashmir to stop activities of terrorists but when the internet is shut down here, they term it valid.”

Right after the examination, allegations of irregularities surfaced. The Rajasthan police had said on September 26 — the day REET was held — that the Bikaner police had recovered Bluetooth devices in slippers from some persons who were arrested. In many of the cities, such devices were sold at Rs. 6-7 lakh, the police had said in a statement. Thereafter, the Rajasthan government suspended several government officials including teachers, officers of the Rajasthan Police Service (RPS) and Rajasthan Administrative Service (RAS) for irregularities during the examination.

While initially the Rajasthan government denied opposition’s allegations of question paper leak, in its investigation, the special operations group (SOG) of the Rajasthan police found proof that the paper was indeed leaked. Prior to this confirmation, the SOG had arrested several people who were allegedly involved in the leak, including Batti Lal Meena and Bhajan Lal, who led the agencies to the person who reportedly leaked the paper.

According to SOG ADG Ashok Rathore, the question paper was stolen and leaked from Shiksha Sankul — the campus in Jaipur where multiple offices of the departments related to education along with educational institutions are located — on September 24, two days before REET.

The SOG has said that a man named Ramkripal Meena who was employed by the district coordinator for the REET examination, had stolen one question paper after opening the envelope when the papers arrived at the Shiksha Sankul. Since then, the SOG has also questioned Pradeep Parashar, the district coordinator who had engaged Meena.

According to the SOG, Meena contacted one Udaram Bishnoi and the paper was leaked in at least seven places across the state. Till date, Meena has received Rs. 1.22 crore in exchange of the question paper, the police have revealed.

Prior to the arrest of the person who had leaked the paper, the SOG and the Rajasthan police had arrested a number of accused, including candidates who received the paper and those who made it available. Till date, 35 accused have been arrested in the case, with 13 of them being candidates who had received the leaked question paper. The SOG has said that it is trying to identify all the candidates who appeared for the examination with prior knowledge about the question paper.

With more arrests on the card, the SOG is also investigating the possible role of officials from the education department and RBSE in the matter and have also visited the RBSE headquarters in Ajmer.

What happens after the REET results?

After the results of the REET exam, which have been already declared, the candidates are presently in the process of sending applications for the posts of primary and upper primary government teachers in two categories – level I which involves classes 1-5 and level II that involves classes 6-8. The SOG is currently investigating the paper leak of the level I examination.

‘After the result, the candidates need to apply for the posts, and along with the REET passing certificate they will have to attach their educational qualification certificates. The government will then prepare the merit list based on weighing in their score in REET and their educational certificates after following all conditions for reservation,” said Vipin Sharma, senior vice president, Rajasthan Prathamik Evam Madhyamik Shikshak Sangh.

He added that REET is particularly popular among the unemployed youth because of the large number of posts in the offing and that the highest qualification required is only graduation and B.Ed.

What has been the government’s reaction to the REET irregularities?

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has said that a high-level committee under the chairmanship of a retired high court judge is being constituted, which will give suggestions regarding smooth and uninterrupted conduct of recruitment examinations in future.

While the government is yet to divulge any details about the committee or the duration within which it will submit its report, CM Gehlot has said that gangs operating in organised manner and are involved in offences such as paper leak, are a matter of concern and there is a need to thoroughly investigate all such matters.

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What is the bill against the question paper leak that has been announced by the Rajasthan government?

Shortly after irregularities surfaced in REET, associations for representing the unemployed youth staged protests, demanding a stringent, non-bailable law against those who are found to be involved in the question paper leak and other irregularities in public recruitment examinations. On Saturday, Gehlot said that in the forthcoming budget session, the government will bring in a Bill with ‘strict provisions’ against copying and paper leak.

It is expected that the government will add a provision for punishment for using unfair means in examinations to a jail-term of seven years and also make it a non-bailable offence. The Chief Minister has also said that in cases of paper leak, dummy candidates and cheating during such exams, wherein involvement of government officials are found, such people will be dismissed from state service.

At present, the state has The Rajasthan Public Examination (Prevention of Unfairmeans) Act 1992 for similar offences. Other states such as Haryana and Uttar Pradesh also have similar laws. It is believed that the new bill will further strengthen this existing law.