BJP State Spokesperson Prof. Virender Gupta welcomed the judgement of Jammu & Kashmir State Information Commission directing the public service commission to place answer keys in the public domain, soon after the decision of the results of examinations for strengthening transparency in its functioning and to remove nagging doubts in the minds of candidates. He added that the SIC observation that deletion of Rule 12 (B) of the PSCs (conduct of examination) rules, which had earlier provided for showing the answer key, runs counter to section 19 of the RTI Act and that the disclosure of OMR sheet and the answer key after the examination involves public interest and such cannot be considered as secret and confidential. Prof. Virender said that the judgement of SIC is of far reaching consequences and is an attempt to make the State PSC transparent to some extent. However, the Spokesperson is of the views that there are many other anomalies in the working of PSC. The marks obtained in the academic degrees of the candidates from different Universities are not being standardized. The candidates from a university/department where there is tendency to rate the student liberally by providing higher marks, are benefitted in the selection. Further, it has been observed that there is a deliberate attempt on the part of the state PSC of ignoring the achievements of a candidate belonging to Jammu region and thus not providing any credit/marks of his/her achievement. While illustrating his point Prof. Virender cited the case of Mrs. Renu Bala who was not given the benefit of her publications and higher qualification in the PSC interviews, for the post of Assistant Professor in Physics in the Higher Education Department.
The Spokesperson opined that after the selections it should also be made mandatory for the PSC to put complete Bio-Data of the candidates appeared in the interviews which include the marks secured in the qualifying examination, name of the University from which the examination passed, weightage given to the candidates for various degrees/achievements and the marks secured in the interview etc., apart from the marks obtained in the examination, if conducted by the PSC.
Prof. Virender demanded that Jammu & Kashmir government should hold impartial enquiry into the selections made against various posts by Public Service Commission in the last 2 to 3 years to remove the grievances and suspicions of candidates belonging to Jammu region about the process of selections. He said that the candidates of Jammu region were neglected and only 10 to 20 percent find their names in the selection lists.
Prof. Virender observed that in the last about forty years none of the persons of Jammu region could occupy the position of Chairman of PSC and this reflects the irony of the conditions prevailing in Jammu and Kashmir state.
The Spokesperson also expressed his concern in the recent selections made against the state cadre posts of Junior Assistants which reflects blatant discrimination with Jammu region. He condemned the selection made by State Service Selection Board where out of 28 open category positions only one candidate from Jammu region is selected and 22 candidates selected from Budgam district of Kashmir Valley only; out of nine posts under Reserved Backward Area (RBA) category, one candidate pertains to Jammu region. He demanded an impartial enquiry into the whole of the selection. He also questioned the so-called policy of equitable treatment with all the region and asked “is it a fair treatment to Jammu region”.
