Massive Fraud in PTI Recruitment: Over 2,000 Wrongly Appointed

Jaipur: The Rajasthan PTI recruitment fraud of 2022 continues to unravel, with over 300 candidates already facing FIRs (First Information Reports) and investigations underway for over 1800 more. The involvement of personnel within the recruitment branch of the education department is also under suspicion, raising serious questions about the department's recruitment processes.

In the recruitment drive for 5,546 positions, over 2,000 candidates are under investigation by the Special Operations Group (SOG). The department is accused of making appointments without thoroughly verifying documents.

SOG Alleges Bribery in Appointments

The SOG has written to the Education Secretary, alleging that appointments were being made in exchange for large sums of money. Despite this, the department has not re-verified the recruitments or made changes within the recruitment branch. Certain personnel within this branch remain in their positions despite concerns.

Role of Several Employees Questionable

Employees who were previously suspended or transferred have been reinstated. Despite the questionable roles of several personnel, they have been given responsibility for the LDC recruitment. Over 1200 candidates provided different information regarding educational institutions and other details during application and verification stages, suggesting fraudulent acquisition of degrees.

How the Fraud Was Perpetrated

Despite this, the recruitment branch accepted affidavits from these candidates, attributing the discrepancies to unintentional errors, and proceeded with their appointments. Attempts to contact the Education Secretary, Krishna Kunal, and the Director of Education, Sitaram Jat, were unsuccessful.

Why Were These Documents Not Scrutinised?

The following irregularities were uncovered despite the appointments being made:

• 1259 candidates had data mismatches, yet were appointed after submitting affidavits.
• 153 candidates scored below 45%, despite needing 45% in their undergraduate degree for B.P.Ed admission.
• 173 candidates obtained their educational qualifications after the recruitment exam date of 25 September 2022.
• 49 candidates possessed degrees from institutions not recognised by the NCTE (National Council for Teacher Education).
• 266 candidates obtained B.P.Ed degrees without entrance exams.
• 243 candidates did not undergo document verification, yet were appointed after the department conducted verification later.
• 41 candidates possessed fake degrees, with cases of dummy candidates registered.
• 13 candidates were appointed with fraudulent sports certificates.