Why are papers leaked and is it possible to have zero paper leaks? For those who are losing hope given the string of paper leaks we are witnessing, I have an emphatic response that the illegalities can be stopped if we start treating the leaks not as mere malpractices but look at it from the prism of organised crime. This will enable the inculcating of best practices of state governments who have been able to crack down on the mafia that exploits loopholes in recruitment and entrance examination processes. If we take the example of Assam, a series of exams were conducted for Assam Police recruitment leading to employment generation for over 14,000 youth in the police force between 2020 to 2023. More importantly, not a single court judgement adversely impacted the recruitment process.
The big question during this period was what was expected out of police recruitment examinations and what would be the consequences if anomalies were detected. This was a time when the Assam Police was already investigating a paper leak case in the previous recruitment exam and made several arrests, including a serving Superintendent of Police in 2020. In this backdrop, the message from the Chief Minister was unambiguous; the sanctity of the recruitment process cannot be breached and there would be zero tolerance in case of malpractice.
The first step was taken by setting up a Nodal Committee under the state police chief, who was also made the Chairperson of the State Level Police Recruitment Board (SLPRB). Since I was serving as the police chief at that time, I knew the responsibility had to be fixed from the top and it was decided that Assam Police would have no role in setting the question papers. We would select an independent academic institution whose credentials and record in conducting zero-leak exams would be unquestionable. We also decided to form a group of young IPS officers to provide broad directions around the general topics on which we would evaluate the candidates. Accordingly, 100 such topics were suggested by this group out of which, the institution setting the question papers would select only a few.
Secondly, we selected Dibrugarh University and subsequently Secondary Education Board of Assam (SEBA) for setting the question papers for its reputation and infrastructure facilities for safe custody of the question papers and subsequently the answer sheets.
I visited Dibrugarh University several times to assess their ability and ensure that the message of zero-tolerance for any misconduct was well appreciated by them. It was decided that multiple questions would be prepared and processed by separate individuals and those finalising the question paper would furnish an affidavit that they have not retained copies in any shape or form. In subsequent exams, in order to accommodate the scale and reach, we partnered with SEBA. SEBA had its own challenges in conducting exams but the zero-tolerance message was driven home.
Thirdly, we decided not to be involved in the printing process and ensured the police force had no knowledge of where the papers were being printed. The University would take on this responsibility. In fact, by the time the printed question papers reached Dibrugarh or Guwahati Airport, all we knew was that it had come on a connecting flight. Even as the Chairperson of SLPRB and the DGP of the state, I would have no information about the printing.
Fourthly, from the time the printed question papers reached Dibrugarh or Guwahati Airport, it was Assam Police’s responsibility to protect them with the same Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) which are used for protecting Electronic Voting Machines for our elections. From guarding and digitally tracking them through their journey from the airport to the strong rooms in the University to CCTV monitoring of the strong rooms and providing round-the-clock security for the strong rooms, no stone was left unturned in providing the utmost level of security and surveillance to the question papers.
The next challenge was the distribution of the question papers to examination centers across the state and bringing back the answer sheets to Dibrugarh or Guwahati for evaluation. Not only was it a logistical challenge, we also wanted to avoid any chances of leakage by our own personnel, which unfortunately had happened in the previous exam. To address this, we decided that forces of one district will be involved in the distribution of question papers and bringing back answer sheets for a different district. While this doesn’t seem overly complicated, anyone who understands Assam’s geography would be able to appreciate the enormity of the task.
In the examination centers, not just the students but also the invigilators, the civilian staff on duty as well as the police personnel were barred from carrying mobile phones. Based on intelligence, certain miscreants were put under surveillance and some even detained following due process. Given the number of candidates, this was no mean job either.
Finally, the physical tests were conducted in a transparent manner under CCTV monitoring at all times. Candidates were tagged using RFID at the time of enrolment and their performance was judged using the same. The results were displayed on large LED screens transparently for all candidates to see and validate. The result of each phase of the physical exam was given to the candidates on the spot eliminating any chances of manipulation later.
The outcome was zero paper leaks! I consider this one of the most fulfilling achievements of my 34 years of public service. I feel it is time state governments come forward to adopt such practices and learn from each other. The key remains political will to tackle such organised crime and enforcement of air-tight processes which can be adopted by all departments to achieve zero-leak exams.
Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta is serving as Chief Information Commissioner, Assam. A former Director General of Police in Assam, he is also serving as general secretary of SHARE, a think tank working on Northeast and South & Southeast Asian policymaking
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of THE WEEK.
