Congress pressures Centre for time-bound probe in SSC scam, dubs it 'Students Suffer Corruption'

Congress demanded the sacking of Minister of State (MoS) in PMO Jitendra Singh, under whose ministry the SSC functions.

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday launched a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre dubbing the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) as 'Students Suffer Corruption'. It demanded a time-bound probe into the alleged SSC paper leak scam.

It also called for the sacking of Minister of State (MoS) in PMO Jitendra Singh, under whose ministry the SSC functions.

Hitting out at the BJP, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala accused the party of spreading the 'Vyapam virus' across the country. He alleged that paper leaks, bogus candidates, massive cheating and deliberate collusion had marred the future of youths who applied to the SSC.

"The future of India's youth gets jeopardised. Need of the hour is a thorough and independent probe in the entire SSC scam. No probe is possible until Minister of State, DOPT Jitendra Singh and SSC Chairman Ashim Khurana are sacked," Surjewala told reporters.

Questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his silence on the issue, he asked, "Will Modiji show the courage of conviction to secure the future of India's youth or will he remain on a perpetual 'maun vrat (vow of silence)'."

The Congress leader claimed that after the infamous 'Vyapam scam', the 'SSC scam' had marred the future of India's youth.

"Instead of giving two crore jobs per year, the career of two crore youths, who apply every year to SSC for around 50,000 vacancies, has been jeopardised.

"Typical of the government to brush every such issue under the carpet. Students demanding justice are hounded, beaten up and evacuated, with an arrogant government refusing to order a thorough probe," he alleged.

Surjewala further alleged that there have been eight paper leaks in the SSC under the present government which forced cancellation of examination.

He also alleged that there was an "unprecedented compromise of secrecy and safety of examinations by the SSC and it failed to conduct a security audit of the software".

He claimed that the parliamentary panel had passed strictures against the government and the SSC for not maintaining the "sanctity of exam process, lack of trust of public in general and examinees in particular, malpractices and technical glitches, supervision on private entities involved in examination process and audit of hardware and software".

"Irregularities, malfeasance, paper leaks, proxy candidates, fake centres, lack of audit and supervision, questionable software and deliberate collusion have put a question mark on the future of India's youth," Surjewala alleged.

(With PTI inputs)