Any public exam left? Govt under fire as paper leak hits Maharashtra TET

The Maharashtra TET was postponed about 20 hours before the exam after parts of the question paper were allegedly leaked. Opposition parties used the development to intensify attacks on the BJP after the massive fiasco following the NEET-UG paper leak.

In Short

• A Thane raid found suspects carrying questions matching the actual test
• Nearly six lakh candidates were due to take the exam on Sunday
• MSCE asked candidates not to believe rumours and promised fresh dates

The opposition was up in arms against the government after the Maharashtra Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) was postponed as parts of the question paper were allegedly leaked. In the season of leaks, following the NEET-UG fiasco last month, the latest development is bound to bring the examination system under deeper scrutiny. While the Congress dubbed the BJP a "paper leak government", AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal alleged that the government has spared neither the exams nor the temples, a likely reference to the Ram Mandir donation theft case.

The latest paper leak fiasco comes as the Centre grapples with the NEET-UG mess, CUET-UG exam delays, and issues with CBSE's paper-checking portal. Barely 20 hours before the Maharashtra TET, it was postponed by the Maharashtra State Council of Examination (MSCE). The decision was taken after a raid in Thane found that some individuals possessed several questions similar to the actual paper.

BJP GRAPPLES WITH ANOTHER PAPER LEAK FIASCO

The paper leak issue has turned out to be the BJP's Achilles heel. "Under the BJP government, there is no paper that doesn't get leaked. This government has become the 'Paper Leak Government'," Congress tweeted.

Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of Cockroach Janta Party, a satirical outfit that has demanded the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, had a pertinent question.

"Is there any public exam left in this country that doesn't end in a paper leak?" Dipke, who is from Maharashtra's Pune, wrote on X. Over the past two months, the Cockroach party, which has rapidly emerged as India's biggest political phenomenon, has been holding protests seeking an overhaul of the examination handling process.

Former Delhi chief minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal indicated that "higher-ups" ought to be involved in such "massive-scale chaos".

"Another exam has been leaked. They have spared neither the exams nor the temples. They are stealing everywhere," Kejriwal said, referring to the embezzlement of donation funds in the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Around Rs 7-7.5 crore is reported to be missing.

"Some of their favourite people say that the lower-level folks are doing it... But such massive-scale chaos, happening continuously every day, isn't possible without the involvement of the higher-ups. It simply can't be that the money isn't reaching the top. The higher-ups are buying so many MPs and MLAs with this very money," he further said.

'GOVT KNOWN FOR BETRAYAL AND LEAKS'

AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi blamed the "incompetence" of the government for the TET "mess".

"What a mess, the BJP-led Maharashtra government's expertise in wrongfully arresting Indian Bengali Muslims as Bangladeshi has not translated into stopping the TET paper leak," Owaisi wrote.

Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal alleged that "paper leaks" had become the identity of "this failed government".

NCP (SP) spokesperson Amol Matele said if teacher recruitment papers are being leaked, no exam is safe anymore.

"This government has broken political parties and poached MPs. Now, it seems it has become known for leaks and betrayal as well," he alleged. The "betrayal" jab is likely a reference to the poaching of six Sena UBT MPs by the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.

'IMPARTIAL, STRICT PROBE TO BE CONDUCTED'

Calling the matter "deeply infuriating", Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said a thorough, impartial, and extremely strict investigation would be conducted.

"No matter who the culprit is, they will not be spared. The harshest possible action will be taken against them. Whether it is a corrupt officer or an organised gang, the full force of the law will be brought down upon them," Shinde said.

Around 6 lakh candidates were scheduled to appear for the Maharashtra TET on Sunday. Amid the avalanche of criticism, the MSCE urged candidates not to fall for rumours and said that revised dates for the TET would be announced soon. It also clarified that candidates would not be charged a re-registration fee for the exam.

- Ends