NE NEWS SRVICE
GANDHINAGAR, FEB 8
Months after a row over the leakage of a question paper of an examination held for recruitment of government head clerks, Asit Vora, chairman of the Gujarat Subordinate Service Selection Board (GSSSB), which had conducted the test, resigned on Monday, the ruling BJP said.
However, the BJP, which announced the resignation of Vora – a political personalty – was quick to add that there was no link between his decision to step down and the paper leak episode for which GSSSB had faced criticism from various quarters.
Vora met Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel at Gandhinagar and tendered his resignation from the post of GSSSB chairman, said Gujarat BJP spokesperson Yagnesh Dave. “Vora’s resignation has to do nothing with the paper leak case. A total of six chairpersons of various boards and corporations, including Vora, have resigned today as part of the BJP’s organisational restructuring ahead of the Assembly polls (likely in 2022-end). Some chairpersons had resigned from their posts a month back,” claimed Dave.
Ever since the leakage of the question paper in December last year and subsequent cancellation of the already conducted exam, opposition Congress and Aam Aadmi Party besides student leaders had been demanding Vora’s resignation.
Gandhinagar
AAP volunteers celebrating Asit Vora’s resignation.Asit Vora Resigned pic.twitter.com/PTk0OfbDpK
— Dr Safin 🇮🇳 (@HasanSafin) February 7, 2022
Vora, a senior BJP leader and former mayor of Ahmedabad city, was re-appointed as the chairman of the key recruitment body for a second term in September last year. Notably, GSSSB recently announced to conduct a fresh written test for the recruitment of head clerks on March 20.
The board chairman’s resignation came amid the opposition accusation that the ruling BJP is “playing with the future of the unemployed youth by shielding the real culprits (of paper leak)”.
The written exam for the recruitment of 186 head clerks was conducted at centres across Gujarat on December 12 by GSSSB with nearly 88,000 aspirants appearing for the test. However, the exam was cancelled after the paper leak episode came to light. The Sabarkantha police had in December said it had arrested 18 persons, including candidates who bought the leaked paper, in connection with the case.
The issue of paper leak surfaced a day after the exam was conducted when Gujarat Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) unit’s youth wing leader Yuvrajsinh Jadeja alleged that the question paper was leaked prior to the exam. As proof, he had shared a photograph of a notebook page having handwritten answers of some of the questions asked in the exam. His claims were found to be true during a police probe.
Police investigations had revealed that some of the accused managed to acquire the question paper from the supervisor of a printing press, which had received the printing contract, and sold it to over 15 candidates and also helped them in solving the paper at various locations a day before the exam.
