Cong leader Surjewala alleges tampering in HPSC recruitment exam, seeks inquiry

Hisar: Congress leader and party general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala has called for a judicial inquiry into alleged irregularities in the assistant professor (geography) recruitment exam conducted by the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC).

Addressing journalists in Hisar, Surjewala accused the HPSC and the Nayab Singh Saini-led government of betraying the trust of thousands of meritorious candidates. He alleged that 17 questions in the June 8 exam were deliberately tampered with, correct answers were changed to incorrect ones, and valid questions were removed from evaluation. He termed this manipulation, especially in a paper with negative marking, as a grave injustice.

Surjewala provided specific examples, stating that answers to six questions (26, 28, 35, 37, 44, and 46) were altered. He highlighted question 46, which matched a 2017 HTET question where Jean Gottman was the correct answer, but was changed to Patrick Geddes in the current exam.

He also claimed that 10 questions were removed from the revised answer key without academic justification, including six (9, 17, 20, 32, 36, and 63) that were completely valid. Of questions 13, 19, 43, 52, and 76, at least two had correct answers but were also removed.

Surjewala alleged that 32 questions were lifted from the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) geography exam - 26 directly and 6 partially. He said that even HPSC chairman Alok Verma is from Bihar, suggesting the source paper may have been leaked to favoured candidates.

He also pointed out that no assistant professor (college cadre) appointments have been made in Haryana since 2019. In Aug 2024, HPSC advertised 2,424 posts across 26 subjects, attracting over 1.5 lakh applicants.

Surjewala cited previous controversies, including the May 29 political science paper, where the seal was found broken, and the June 1 Hindi exam, where six question paper envelopes were open and 27 questions were incorrect. Despite this, HPSC chairman dismissed concerns, blaming packing errors. The Hindi paper was later cancelled on June 3 following public outrage.

Surjewala concluded by demanding an independent judicial inquiry to uncover the truth and ensure justice for thousands of deserving candidates.