BJP leader Adhikari claims question papers for SLST exam on Sep 7 and 14 being sold

Kolkata, Sep 5 (PTI) Days before the State Level Selection Test (SLST) for recruiting assistant teachers in state-run and state-aided secondary and higher secondary schools in West Bengal, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Friday alleged that question paper was being sold by a racket in North 24 Parganas for as much as Rs 50,000.

The SLST, conducted by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC), will be held on September 7 and 14 to fill 35,726 teaching posts for classes 9-10 and 11-12.

Adhikari told reporters here that he has information about question paper for the September 7 exam being sold for Rs 50,000 and claimed he has an audio clip to back up the claims.

"Once this corrupt TMC government under Mamata Banerjee realised it cannot tamper with OMR sheets to help the undeserving qualify in exchange for money, they have now resorted to other means," Adhikari alleged.

"Efforts are on to sell question papers through agents. I have information that the September 7 question paper is being sold for Rs 50,000," he added.

The commission has allayed the fears and asserted the question papers are in safe custody.

Accusing the TMC government of having "institutionalised corruption in the state," he said over the last few years, it reached alarming proportions.

Adhikari's comments assume significance in the wake of the Supreme Court having invalidated around 26,000 teaching and non-teaching jobs of candidates who cracked the 2016 SSC recruitment test, but both the Calcutta High Court and the apex court found the entire process "tainted and vitiated." Reacting to Adhikari's claims, a senior WBSSC official said, "question papers of both days' tests (September 7 and 14) are safe and secure." PTI SUS MNB