Ex-Chhattisgarh CM Baghel seeks NTA head Dr Joshi's removal from state panel

Raipur, Jun 20 (PTI) Former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Thursday sought removal of Dr Pradeep Kumar Joshi, the head of the National Testing Agency (NTA), from the position of chairman of a panel constituted by the state government.

The panel formed by the state government was aimed at making recommendations on reforms in the Chhattisgarh Public Civil Service Commission.

The demand comes in the wake of the cancellation of the UGC-NET examination and allegations of irregularities in the NEET exam.

The new BJP government in Chhattisgarh in March this year had constituted a commission headed by Dr Joshi to give recommendations for conducting the examinations held by Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission (CGPSC) in a transparent manner on the lines of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exams.

Dr Joshi, former chairman of the UPSC, is currently heading the governing body of the NTA.

In a post on X, Baghel said, "The controversy over the NEET scam is not over yet and it has been confirmed that the UGC-NET paper was leaked. The exam will be held again. Questions have been raised on the NTA, the agency that conducts the exams." "The Chhattisgarh government has appointed Prof Dr Pradeep Kumar Joshi, the head of the governing body of the same NTA, as the chairman of the CGPSC reforms commission. Will Chief Minister @vishnudsai still not remove Prof Joshi? Remove him, it is a question of the future of lakhs of children," he wrote.

Talking to PTI, Baghel, a senior Congress leader, slammed the BJP-led Centre and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should apologise to students for allegedly playing with their future.

Wherever BJP was in rule (in the states), such irregularities (in examinations and recruitment) have surfaced, he claimed.

In a statement on March 12, the Vishnu Deo Sai government had said, the state's General Administration Department has issued an order for constituting a commission under the chairmanship of Prof Dr Pradeep Kumar Joshi, former Chairman of UPSC, to make recommendations on the state PSC.

As per the order, the commission will give suggestions for conducting the CGPSC examinations in a transparent manner on the lines of UPSC exams, making an annual calendar of examinations and enhancing credibility towards the state PSC among the candidates.

Notably, top BJP leaders during electioneering for the last year's Chhattisgarh assembly elections had targeted the previous Congress government over alleged scam in CGPSC recruitment and promised to get it probed if the saffron party comes to power.

In January this year, the newly-elected BJP government decided to recommend a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged irregularities in the state Public Service Commission examination - 2021. PTI TKP NP