Sunday Times 2
Vyapam: Deadly exam scam shakes India
India’s highest court has ordered the nation’s most powerful investigation agency to investigate a massive college admission and government job recruitment scandal linked to dozens of suspicious deaths.
Congress party activists in Bhopal demand the resignation of Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over the scandal. Pic Raj Patidar/Reuters
In the latest twist to a story that has gripped the nation, its supreme court on Thursday ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take over the inquiry into the so-called Vyapam scandal in the central state of Madhya Pradesh. Dozens of senior officials have been jailed, nearly 2,000 people arrested and the scandal has been linked to dozens of suspicious deaths.
In the past two weeks, a key witness died of a heart attack in prison; an investigative journalist probing the scam was found dead; and the body of a medical college dean whose institution was being investigated was recovered from a hotel in Delhi.
Thousands of people now working as teachers, nurses, doctors, vets and police officers are believed to have paid middlemen to arrange high marks at crucial examinations.
The accused in the case include senior police officers, local politicians, former ministers and top officials who are alleged to have rigged eligibility tests for admission to medical colleges and recruitment for coveted jobs in the police force, schools and banking sector. Police have also arrested hundreds of parents and students for paying bribes.
Local media have described the scandal as “without parallel” and “one of the most blatant and extensive rigging exercises of its kind ever uncovered in India”.
The supreme court also directed the central Indian government to respond to a request for the removal of Ram Naresh Yadav, the federally appointed governor of Madhya Pradesh, after questions were raised about his involvement. Yadav’s 50-year-old son died mysteriously in March after being accused of accepting bribes.
The state is run by India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), which won power in a landslide election 14 months ago. One reason for the BJP’s crushing victory was the series of scandals that had tainted the incumbent Congress party.
The Vyapam scandal, named after the local language acronym for the examining board where much of the corruption appears to have been concentrated, is the first such affair to hit the BJP.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviews an honour guard during a welcoming ceremony in Astana on July 8. The Vyapam scandal is the first to hit Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) Government. AFP
Congress leaders had been demanding the involvement of the CBI and accused the Madhya Pradesh government of trying to influence the outcome of the inquiry by the state police.
Digvijay Singh, a Congress leader, demanded the resignation of Madhya Pradesh’s chief minister, the BJP’s Shivraj Singh Chouhan, on Thursday.
“Students who were made to believe that money was the only way to get admission to higher education in the state are behind bars, while those who took the bribes are roaming free,” Singh told reporters.
Chouhan, who has said “the mission of my life is that the entire truth in this case should come out,” initially resisted the CBI investigation. At least 600 people are still being sought by police for interview in connection with the scandal.
Much of the media attention has focused on the deaths of witnesses and accused. Many of the dead are relatively young and autopsy reports in most cases have been inconclusive.
Babulal Gaur, home minister in Madhya Pradesh, dismissed the opposition’s charge that witnesses and whistleblowers were being targeted to shield top politicians and bureaucrats. He said most of the deaths were due to natural causes.
The scam dates to 2007, but investigations only began in July 2013 following the arrest of 20 people during a medical school entrance test.
Investigations revealed a range of different ways of cheating. One of the most straightforward involved gifted students being paid to impersonate wealthy but poor-performing candidates. Another tactic involved submitting blank papers which would be accepted by examiners and then filled in later. Middlemen charged substantial fees, equivalent to many years salary, for serving government doctors or police officials.
Experts say that such corruption sets up a vicious circle as officials who have paid to obtain their posts seek to maximise the return on their investments through graft.
There is ferocious competition in India for a limited number of government jobs, which often come with accommodation allowances and pensions, as well as for places in establishments offering specialist training. Weak oversight and a culture of bribery has undermined many professional institutions in the south Asian power.
Protection of whistleblowers is also a problem. In a report issued earlier this week, activists said 39 people who had used India’s Right to Information Act in the decade since it was passed have been killed as a result of their inquiries.
Courtesy the Guardian, UK