One-man commission begins probe into CCE ‘anomalies’

Guwahati: The one-man inquiry commission headed by retired Justice Biplab Kumar Sharma, which was recently constituted by the state government, has begun a probe into the allegations of anomalies and malpractices in conducting Civil Service Examination (CCE), 2014 by the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC).
The committee will submit the investigation report within six months.
Sharma had headed the one-man inquiry commission that probed into the allegations of anomalies and malpractices in conduct of CCE, 2013 earlier. After his report, the court of special judges, Assam, in April framed charges against 67 out of 74 accused ACS and APS officers and APSC employees, which include the former chairperson Rakesh Paul, in the APSC CCE 2013 cash-for-job scam.
As far as the allegations in CCE, 2014 are concerned, the present commission will inquire into the entire process of selection of the candidates and role of the chairman and other members of APSC, including the staff and candidates and to fix the responsibility/ fault/ malpractice, if any, accordingly.
The commission will further inquire into the system followed by the APSC for setting questions for conducting the examination, including the qualifications, integrity and competency of the question-setters, and whether the question setters are properly trained and briefed by the commission.
It will suggest improvement in mode of selection and preparation of the panel of dedicated question setters.
Inquiry into the modalities adopted by the commission for moderation of questions set for the CCE, 2014, whether clear distinction and demarcation is there between question setters and moderatorst, will also be conducted by the one-man commission.
Besides, the panel will inquire and study the system followed by the commission for holding the viva-voce/interview of the candidates, making patterns under the existing rules and whether proper transparency was maintained during the viva-voce/interview of the candidates appearing in CCE, 2014.