Reacting to the remarks of Union Health Minister JP Nadda that paper leaks occurred during the National Conference (NC)-led J&K Government, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah rejected the claims asserting that the paper leaks involving J&K Services Selection Board (JKSSB) occurred in 2022 when the UT was under the LG-led administration.
Nadda, during a press conference on Wednesday, said, “Paper leak in SSB examination took place in Jammu and Kashmir where the government is of the Congress and National Conference.”
Rejecting the claim, Omar in a post on X said, “You are absolutely correct about the SSB paper leak in J&K, JP Nadda ji, but you have got the date wrong. It was 2022. The government wasn’t of NC and Congress. It was a government headed by Lieutenant Governor, but thank you for reminding everyone of this failure. It involved observations and orders of the J&K High Court. We have no idea what happened to the high-level committee or its report. Perhaps you can share that with us in your next press conference.”
Omar attached a portion of the J&K and Ladakh High Court order in which directions were given to the LG-led administration for constituting a high-powered committee headed by a retired high court judge to probe the conduct of the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB) for its “brazen irregularities”.
Later during a press briefing, Omar said that not one but many paper leaks were reported during that time and inquiry was also initiated into the issue. “The case is with CBI now. Many blacklisted companies were allowed to conduct the examination for recruitment. But I do not have any answers about what happened to the inquiry,” he said.
Multiple recruitment examinations conducted by the JKSSB were cancelled following allegations of paper leak in 2022.
However, the reply by Omar did not go well with the BJP leadership in J&K. Leader of Opposition in J&K Assembly, Sunil Sharma, alleged that the CM rewarded the main accused in the MBBS entrance exam scam.
“The people of J&K have not forgotten how Chief Minister Omar Abdullah rewarded the main accused in the biggest MBBS entrance scam by not only granting him an extension, but also appointing him to a post superannuation job as consultant,” Sharma said.
“Before giving lectures on transparency and portraying himself as holier than thou, the Chief Minister should not forget how he gave an extension to Mushtaq Peer (former Chairman of Board of Professional Entrance Examination), the main accused in selling question papers of the Common Entrance Test–2012 in exchange for monetary considerations. Who appointed him as consultant for fast track recruitment of Class IV posts? The people of J&K know that the Omar Abdullah led government patronised the main accused,” Sharma said.