Bhubaneswar, Dec 6: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Friday attacked the previous Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government, accusing it of rampant corruption, particularly in the recruitment process, during his presentation of the Odisha Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill 2024 in the Odisha Assembly.
Majhi alleged that the BJD government had turned the recruitment process into a lucrative business, with positions such as Assistant Section Officers (ASO) being sold for exorbitant sums, ranging between Rs 25 lakh to Rs 30 lakh.
He claimed that this malpractice deprived hardworking, deserving candidates of opportunities and left sincere students and their families devastated after investing significant resources in their preparations.
The Chief Minister further accused the previous government of betraying the future of Odisha's youth, describing their actions as a continued erosion of democratic values. He pointed out that the consequences of these actions were reflected in the BJD’s defeat in the 2024 general elections.
"There was no transparency in recruitment under the previous government. Corruption was widespread, and recruitment was treated with utter disregard. The officers overseeing examinations were allegedly involved in leaking question papers. A prime example of this is the junior engineer exams of 2023," Majhi said, referring to a major scandal where question papers for the Junior Engineer recruitment exams were leaked, revealing a deep-rooted corruption racket within the administration.
Majhi assured lawmakers that under his leadership, his government maintains a strict zero-tolerance policy toward corruption. He emphasized that the new legislation, which seeks to ensure fairness in recruitment, would impose stringent penalties, including imprisonment, for anyone involved in malpractice.
Odisha Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024
The unfair means includes impersonation, cheating and disrupting the examination process, leakage of information related to examination before the scheduled time and unauthorised entry into examination halls.
All offences will be cognisable, non-bailable and non-compoundable. Any person and persons resorting to unfair means and offences will be punished with imprisonment ranging from three to five years with a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh.
The service provider will also be liable to be punished with imposition of a fine of up to Rs 1 crore. Proportionate cost of examination will also be recovered from such service provider.
