Congress alleges huge scam in Telangana police recruitments

Hyderabad: Alleging huge scam in the process for recruitment of Police Constables and Sub Inspectors, Congress party on Saturday demanded a high-level probe into all the recruitments and re-conduct of exams.

Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan, All India Congress Committee (AICC) Spokesperson Dr. Sravan Dasoju said that the Telangana State Level Police Recruitment Board (TSLPRB) issued 5 separate notifications for recruitment of 18,435 Police Constables and Sub Inspectors on various posts. It also collected an application fee of over Rs. 1,000 from 7,19,840 job aspirants. However, he said that the Board failed to conduct the recruitment tests in a scientific and fool proof manner.

A total of 224,741 students appeared for (Physical Measurement Test) and (Physical Efficiency Test) conducted by the board and 1,17,660 have qualified. However, he said neither any format was fixed to conduct the test nor any precedents were followed. For the first time, the Board used Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags for physical fitness tests as part of the recruitment for stipendary police constable and sub-inspector posts. The RFID works were assigned to a private agency eSoft. However, the discrepancies in use of RFID tags deprived thousands of jobless youth an opportunity to get a police job. As against 5 separate notifications for different posts, physical tests were jointly conducted for all the aspirants and posts without even taking into consideration the gap between average age of applicants for SI and Constable posts.

Sravan said there were huge flaws in conduct of 800 metres (400 x 2) race with a qualifying time of 170 seconds. As against the norms of having only 4-6 members on the track, 50-60 candidates were made to run on the track at the same time. Consequently, the candidates were unable to run freely and had to waste time facing blockages on over-crowded track. He said this system was totally flawed and many eligible and deserving candidates face disqualification due to loss of 4-5 seconds.

The Congress leader said no orientation programme was held either for the officials or the candidates on how the RFID system works. Further, there was no mention of RFID in the notifications issued by the TSLPRB. He said the measurement of milli-nano seconds was also taken into consideration although this count is not even applied or valid in Olympic race. There was no clarity on where the RFID sytem begins or ends and all the results were selectively picked. At some centres, a whistle was blown to start the race, but the end of the race was defined by the RFID.

Citing instances, Sravan said one candidate, Manthri Rajitha, had appeared for a police recruitment exam held in 2016 and even appeared for main. However, when she again applied for a post in 2018, she was disqualified on the grounds of height. She was shown shorter by an inch than the qualifying height. "How is it possible that the height of a candidate got reduced between two interviews?" he asked.

Similarly, he said the height of another applicant Nikhil Raj was 168 cm which met the eligibility criteria of 167.8 cm. But his height, due to use of RFID, was shown as 172.5 cm. Although the candidate was eligible in both the conditions, the huge various in figures exposes the discrepancies in recruitment process. He said only one sensor was installed at few places like Sangareddy and Nalgonda where beginning point of 100 metres was manual and end point was sensor-based. Several cases of impersonation were also reported during the recruitment process.

Sravan said that the list of discrepancies was huge and lakhs of deserving candidates fell victim to the irregularities conducted by the TSLPRB. He said when the candidates raised complaints, they were given an assurance that their grievances would be addressed. They were called to the office of TSPRB Chairman A. Srinivas Rao on 28th and 29th March. When more than 5,000 applicants visited the office, they were not even allowed entry into the premises.

The Congress leader appealed to State Government to order a high-level investigation into recruitments done so far and conduct the exams afresh. Else, he warned that the Congress party would launch massive agitation.

"Congress condemns demolition of Dr. Ambedkar statue"

Sravan has strongly condemned the TRS Government for demolition of Dr. B.R. Ambdkar's statue in Panjagutta area by the GHMC authorities. He said one Jai Bheem Society wanted to intall a 9-feet status of Ambedkar Statue and also sought permission. They wanted the statue to be unveiled on the birth anniversary of Dr. Ambedkar on April 14. However, the GHMC authorities demolished the statue and its debris was thrown in Jawaharnagar Dumping Yard. Those who protested against the demolition were subjected to lathicharge by the local police.

The Congress leader demanded that Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao tender an unconditional apology and installation of Dr. Ambedkar's statue at the same place at government's cost.