Amritsar: Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Partap Singh Bajwa, on Wednesday expressed serious concern over the recurring controversies surrounding recruitment and competitive examinations in Punjab, saying the repeated irregularities have severely undermined the confidence of the state’s youth in the fairness of the recruitment process. In a statement issued here on Wednesday, Bajwa asserted that the future of lakhs of deserving aspirants cannot be compromised because of administrative failures or the govt’s refusal to accept accountability. “Allegations and irregularities relating to the Naib Tehsildar recruitment examination, the Punjab State Teacher Eligibility Test (PSTET), the cancellation of the Class XII English Board English examination following the confirmation of a paper leak, the Group-B recruitment controversy, and now the Pharmacy Officer recruitment examination have collectively raised serious questions about the credibility of the govt’s claims”, he said. He further said that the govt may refuse to describe the Pharmacy Officer recruitment examination as a paper leak, but changing the terminology does not change the reality. “If the sanctity of an examination has been compromised, if organised cheating has allegedly taken place, and if the credibility of an entire recruitment process has come under a cloud, then who will accept responsibility? Can injustice done to thousands of young aspirants simply disappear because the govt chooses to call it something else?,” he asked.He further questioned why different standards appear to be applied to similar incidents across the country. “Whenever examination paper leaks occur elsewhere, the Aam Aadmi Party and the BJP are quick to demand resignations and accountability. Why should Punjab be an exception? Accountability cannot have one yardstick for other states and another for Punjab,” he said.Expressing concern over reports that students protesting peacefully had allegedly faced police action, Bajwa said it was deeply disturbing that young people demanding a fair recruitment process were allegedly met with force instead of dialogue. “A democratic government must listen to its youth, not attempt to suppress their voices. Students seeking justice should never be treated as law-and-order problems,” he said.
