rajneesh madhok
SPNer
- Jan 1, 2010
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A Tribune Investigation
MBBS in 11 yrs, but makes it to PPSC merit list
Chitleen K Sethi
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 6MBBS in 11 yrs, but makes it to PPSC merit list
Chitleen K Sethi
Tribune News Service
These are a few of the surprising entries in the PPSC merit list of doctors — the list comprising of “chosen ones”, Punjab’s rich and powerful, desperate for the elusive government job. A Tribune investigation has found that the selection of 312 doctors last year by the PPSC was done through a process that barely veiled the intentions of those involved in the selection process, with 50 per cent marks allocated for the interview alone.
Sources have told The Tribune that the posts were up for sale and anything between Rs 12 lakh and Rs 20 lakh per post was gathered by several conduits across the state allegedly on behalf of those running the show at the PPSC.
The most used channel for the purpose, as per sources, was an ASI-level cop who worked in connivance with a revenue department official, who allegedly had an access to those who mattered. A senior vigilance bureau official, too, reportedly had his men contacting applicants, offering “competitive” rates.
Several senior doctors of the state, as also some candidates, are also said to have turned into “middlemen”. A former MLA of the state, it is alleged, charged a fee for getting names of certain candidates into the “sifarish list” — allegedly drawn up by the state’s political bigwigs.
Documents gathered under the RTI Act by The Tribune also show that the selected doctors include close relatives of judges, ministers, MLAs, IAS and IPS officers. The selections were made in two lots of 100 and 212 for which interviews were held between February and October last year.
The RTI documents reveal that PPSC’s merit list of the first lot of 100 medical officers was a collection of below-average students, many of whom had done their MBBS from private colleges in Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Nepal on a paid seat. Also, many of them had cleared their medical degree in several attempts and had failed in one or more subjects during the course.
While these candidates were selected, the meritorious ones, some of them even toppers in pre-medical entrance tests, colleges and universities, were ignored.
A “topper” scored a mere 57.4 per cent in MBBS. Yet another top-ranker, son of a bureaucrat, scored 58 per cent marks in MBBS, which he took six-and-a-half years to complete. An MBBS from Jammu University, with 56 per cent marks, also made it to the top ten positions.
PPSC chairman Sanjit Sinha could not be contacted. However, PPSC member Brig (Retd) DS Grewal said the commission had selected the medical officers through a proper process in which the interview boards left no room for any discrepancy. “No complaints whatsoever were received by the PPSC alleging that money had exchanged hands for filling up these posts.”
(To be concluded)
A Tribune Investigation
45 doc interviews in 40 min! PPSC did it
Chitleen K Sethi
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 745 doc interviews in 40 min! PPSC did it
Chitleen K Sethi
Tribune News Service
The process of selection adopted by the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC), it seems, was “tailor-made” to suit the “pre-selected” candidates. Not only did the commission deviate from the past practice of holding a screening test, but also hinged the main selection procedure on an interview, which accounted for 50 per cent of the total marks.
Moreover, the interviews too were a total farce, it is learnt. For, the interviews of most of the “pre-rejected” applicants only lasted from 30 seconds to a minute-and-a-half. The fact can be better gauged from this: Interviews of 45 candidates were completed in less than 40 minutes on a given day, the duration including the time taken for checking certificates at three levels.
Notably, when the job-applicant ratio is substantially large, a screening test is conducted by public service commissions across the country. However, despite the fact that in this case the number of applications was over 20 times the number of advertised posts, PPSC decided to give the screening test a miss.
Not only this, absurd questions were allegedly asked from “pre-rejected” candidates during interviews. “How many teeth does a frog have?; Give the flight details to Russia? Why didn’t you go in for a third child?” included some of them. Then, another student was called “stupid” and asked to “get out” when he tried to explain why he had become a doctor while his parents were non-medicos.
“On the other hand, some VIP candidates were escorted in, offered tea and asked about the welfare of their parents,” a rejected candidate from Gurdaspur said.
While the PPSC had kept 50 per cent marks for interviews, the remaining were divided as: academic background (35), higher qualifications (3), publications (5), social work (5) and participation in extra-curricular activities like NSS and NCC (2).
However, neither the interview criteria nor this breakup of marks were intimated to candidates. Both the advertisements, inviting applications for the two lots of 100 and 212 posts, did not mention a word about the selection procedure. When some candidates sought the criteria under the RTI Act, they were told by the PPSC that this information was “secret” and could not be divulged. The criteria were, however, notified on the PPSC website 10 days after the conclusion of the interviews for the first lot of 100 selections.
On the basis of documents gathered by The Tribune, it is clear that unlike the general mass of candidates, many candidates seemed to know this breakup much earlier as all the relevant certificates were attached by them with their application forms and bio-data sheets, giving them a lead of several marks over others.
In some cases of the “pre-selected” candidates, the certificates were put on record only a few days before the interview, a fact borne out by the date of issuance of the certificates. One successful candidate was allowed to submit the certificates even after the interview.
The genuineness of these “last-minute” certificates is also questionable. RTI records of the certificates submitted by a selected candidate in the first list of 100 doctors shows her to be in a state 2,500 km away from Punjab appearing for her final year exams and also attending NSS camp at Kapurthala.
When contacted, PPSC member DS Grewal said there was no way of finding out if the certificate was genuine or not. “I agree many candidates took us for a ride,” he said. He said the interview method was chosen with an aim to have doctors with “well rounded personalities” and not mere medical experts. “We also did not want to make any drastic changes from the earlier system,” he added.
Sources, however, pointed out that in 1998 when the last set of selections for the PCMS through the PPSC took place, there were 900 seats and 1,200 applicants and yet a screening test was conducted.
(To be concluded)
A Tribune Investigation
Judge’s daughter in first PPSC doc list, son-in-law in second
Chitleen K Sethi/TNS
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Chandigarh, March 8Judge’s daughter in first PPSC doc list, son-in-law in second
Chitleen K Sethi/TNS
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Badal orders probe
Taking cognisance of The Tribune reports, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Monday ordered an inquiry into allegations of malpractices in the recruitment of doctors by the PPSC. Chief Secretary SC Aggarwal has been asked to conduct a probe and submit his report within 30 days.</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
In what may be called as a perfect example of the powered and moneyed people making best use of their influence, the “pre-selected” doctors who undertook Punjab Public Service Commission’s test for government jobs reportedly bragged about their positions much before the merit list was out. And interestingly, while the daughter of a judge made it to the first merit list, his son-in-law’s name figuired in the second.
An investigation by The Tribune has revealed that several “backdoor channels” were active for ensuring a seat in PPSC’s final list and that lakhs were doled out by those desperate to get their wards into the Punjab Civil Medical Service.
A rejected candidate said: “As I sat in my car after my interview, a person approached me with an offer to get my work done for Rs 10 lakh.” Another girl said: “After my interview, I was asked by an employee at the PPSC to meet a particular member at his residence but I refused.”
Not only this, “pre-selected” candidates bragged about even knowing their positions in the merit list on the day of their interviews, some rejected candidates have alleged, adding other bragged about having gotten a bit cheap deal. “There were persons who had offers ranging from Rs 12 lakh to Rs 15 lakh for a seat. Only a handful managed to get a rate less than Rs 10 lakh,” a candidate said.
Other than those who allegedly bought a seat for their wards, the state’s high and mighty also figure prominently in the list of successful candidates. The list of first 100 doctors included the name of the daughter of a then sitting High Court judge. The name of her father prefixed with “Justice” figured in the certificates she attached with the papers submitted to the PPSC, it has been found.
Among the top five in the list was the sister of a sessions judge. She had scored 57.4 per cent in her MBBS from a private college in Amritsar. “I was shocked to see her name among the PPSC toppers. She and another top ranker of PPSC were my students. There were other students too in my class who had applied and deserved to be in the list,” a professor in the college said.
The wife of another judicial officer also figures in the list. She had scored 55.4 per cent marks and took six attempts to pass instead of three. The top five also include the son of an IAS officer who is now retired but was in service when his son was interviewed. He scored 58 per cent marks from a government medical college where he took six-and-a-alf years to clear his MBBS. Another seat in the first lot also went to the wife of an IAS officer who was then posted as the Deputy Commissioner, Patiala.
The second lot of 212 seats included the son-in-law of the Judge whose daughter figured in the first list. Going by the address in the application forms, this list also includes the son of another High Court Judge. He had scored 67 per cent marks in his MBBS from a private medical college in Haryana. This judge is also said to have approached the health department not only for an extension in the joining period for his son, but also for a posting near Chandigarh.
Relatives of two serving ministers, one of the Akalis and the other BJP, also figure in the list. The daughter of a senior IPS officer was also selected. The addresses in the forms show that wives of two SSPs were among the top 10 in the second list. Both, however, had MD degrees and had also scored well in their MBBS. The wife of another IAS officer also made it to the top 60 of this list. She had scored 62.88 per cent marks in her MBBS, which she did from Rajasthan.
Two close relatives of in-service civil surgeons posted in the state have also made it to the list, as also the relatives of two retired civil surgeons, besides the relatives of two former MPs. (To be concluded)
Rajneesh Madhok
