Pramesh S Jain
Serious allegations of corruption have surfaced in the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) recruitment process for Veterinary Officer posts,with candidates demanding that the entire selection process be cancelled and the case handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Hundreds of Veterinary Officer aspirants gathered in front of the Vidhana Soudha Police Station on Thursday and submitted a complaint,alleging large-scale irregularities in the recently announced final selection list.
According to the complainants,middlemen allegedly contacted candidates with lower scores and claimed that their names could be included in the final selection list in exchange for money.
Candidates have alleged that several persons who had poor academic records,including some who had reportedly failed during their veterinary degree course, secured high ranks in the final selection list.
The protesters claimed that an alleged sting operation had exposed a cash-for-jobs racket,in which an agent was heard demanding Rs.80 lakh for securing a Veterinary Officer post,with Rs.40 lakh to be paid in advance.
In the purported audio recording,the alleged agent tells the candidate’s father that the payment must be made in cash in Bengaluru and discourages online transactions.
The agent allegedly assures a”99% guarantee”of securing the job and even offers to provide a cheque as security if there are doubts about the deal.
The aggrieved candidates have demanded that the recruitment process be immediately scrapped and that an independent CBI probe be ordered to investigate the allegations.
There has been no official response from the KPSC regarding the allegations so far.The authenticity of the purported audio recording and the allegations has not been independently verified.
