New Delhi, March 29 (IANS) The Congress on Thursday demanded that Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javadekar and CBSE Chairperson Anita Karwal should be sacked for the leakage of Class 10 and Class 12 question papers and sought an independent investigation in the matter.

In a statement, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala alleged that an “exam mafia” was running amok and the HRD Minister was busy targeting political opponents in West Bengal.

“Multiple instances of bungling and malfeasance have marred the CBSE under the Modi government,” Surjewala alleged.

The statement said the post of CBSE Chairperson was vacant for two years under the former HRD Minister Smriti Irani. It said R.K. Chaturvedi was appointed to the post in July 2017 and Anita Karwal, who had earlier served as Chief Electoral Officer of Gujarat, was appointed to the post in August last year.

Surjewala accused Karwal of not taking proper care in conduct of examinations and said a news report had claimed that she had received a copy of the leaked Mathematics paper a day before the exam was to be conducted.

He said the officials in key positions at both Staff Selection Commission (SSC) and CBSE were “handpicked IAS officers of Prime Minister from the time he was Gujarat Chief Minister”.

“This has exposed the capture of highest academic institutions by the ‘exam mafia’ under the watch of (Narendra) Modi government as also absolute abdication of authority by the HRD Minister and CBSE Chairperson,” he said.

The Congress leader alleged that the CBSE had deliberately given up the established practice of three sets of paper for students in each examination to prevent cheating, duplications and paper leaks.

“Why the HRD Ministry/CBSE instead resorted to setting one paper with identical questions across the country? Why did the HRD Ministry/CBSE do away with the practice of dividing the country into four zones to prevent copying, cheating and leaking of papers?” he asked.

“Should there not be an independent investigation in the ‘Paper Leak’ Scam of CBSE? Time to fix accountability and sack HRD Minister and the CBSE Chairperson,” he said.

The CBSE on Wednesday had said it will re-conduct examination in the maths and economics papers for Class 10 and Class 12 respectively following the leak of question papers even as a Delhi Police probe is underway.

The Congress also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has written a book “Exam Warriors”.

“16.38 lakh students were taking the Class 10 exam, while almost 8 lakh students took the Class 12 exam. Are they now ‘Re-Exam Warriors’ for Narendra Modi?” asked the statement.

–IANS
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