Shivraj called from abroad to accommodate former Vyapam chief in fince commission

New Delhi, July 15: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had hastily ordered the appointment of Malay Rai as Madhya Pradesh State Fince Commission member over the phone, an RTI query has revealed. Rai was chairman of the MP professiol examition board, or Vyapam, in 2009-10, and the order (dated June 6, 2014) was issued even as the Vyapam scam was being investigated. Chouhan was on one of his foreign tours in June 2014 when he made the urgent call to the state fince department. This was revealed in an RTI reply given by the State Fince Department, to whistleblower Ajay Dubey. The RTI reply stated that the CM approved the proposal for the appointment on phone, subject to formal confirmation on his return from his trip overseas. A copy of the State Fince department order has been provided in the RTI reply. The reply also said that the tenure of the fince commission will be up to June 30, 2015. Dubey told IANS that he would be filing one of several petitions in the Supreme Court regarding this.

“What was the urgency in issuing the order telephonically? Our contention is that how can the state government appoint the former chairman of Vyapam to the fince commission when the examition board itself is under investigation, he said, adding that none of the officials of the board has yet got a clean chit. Dubey also said that After the Vyapam question paper leaks in 2008 and 2009, the state government in 2010 had recruited central observers, including retired IAS, IFS and IPS officers and retired persons from academic field to observe and monitor the scanning of answer sheets. “From 2010 till date about 500 central observers have been recruited by the state to monitor scanning of sheets, but still there have been irregularities. The scam hasn’t stopped with regard to the recruitment of professiols,” said Dubey

The MP Board, also known as Vyavsayik Pariksha Mandal or Vyapam conducts examitions to recruit government employees in the state and holds admission tests for medical courses. It has been mired in controversies for years, but it eventually came to light when 20 people were arrested in 2013 for impersoting candidates appearing for the 2009 medical entrance examitions.  (IANS)