Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Thursday said his government has given its nod to an ordinance to bring the country’s “strictest anti-cheating law” to make recruitment exams transparent and fair for all candidates in the state.
The announcement was made hours after Uttarakhand Police resorted to lathicharge on the youth protesting against recruitment scams and paper leak cases in the state. They were protesting outside the busy Gandhi Park in Dehradun in the afternoon.
“As per the promise made to the youth, our government has decided to bring the country’s strictest anti-cheating law. After giving my permission to the ordinance concerned, I have sent it for further action. We will not let cheating mafia play with the future of students,” the CM tweeted.
He appealed to the protesting youth to not be misled by anyone, as his government is fully aware of their welfare, and “unlike previous government, it has not tried to hide any of the recruitment scams”.
“We have investigated all cases that came to light and sent all culprits to jail…” he said.
As per the ordinance, if a person, printing press, service provider, management, coaching institute or others are found using illegal means, there will be a provision of life sentence and a fine of up to Rs 10 crore.
Earlier in the day, a protest against recruitment examination paper leaks in Uttarakhand turned violent, causing injuries to several protesting students and police personnel. The students, protesting under the banner of Uttarakhand Berozgaar Union, were were reportedly aspirants of Uttarakhand Subordinate Service Selection Commission and Uttarakhand Public Service Commission and demanded reforms in both examination commissions.
According to a statement issued by the state government, the Chief Secretary has been directed to initiate a magisterial inquiry into the incident.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the state government is “ruining the life of students and beating them with lathis for sitting on a protest with justified demands”. The BJP called the protest a political plot.