Senior Congress leader and MP Randeep Singh Surjewala on Sunday alleged large-scale irregularities in the Haryana Teacher Eligibility Test (H-TET) examination and demanded that the exam be cancelled and conducted afresh.
Allegations of broken seals and mismatched OMR sheets
Surjewala claimed that the examination for the post of Post Graduate Teacher (PGT), held on July 4 at 238 centres across Haryana, was marred by alleged paper leak, broken seals on question paper packets, mismatched OMR sheets, wrong question papers and several printing and typographical errors.
Alleging that the entire H-TET Level-3 examination had been compromised, he said that sealed packets containing question papers were found broken at examination centres in Rewari, including Sanglo and Suraj schools, as well as at some centres in Charkhi Dadri.
“Invigilators told candidates that the packets had been received from the Haryana Board of School Education in the same condition,” he said.
Official acknowledgment and further irregularities
Surjewala said the Sub-Divisional Magistrate and nodal officer in Charkhi Dadri had acknowledged the issue of broken seals and allegedly said that responsibility lay with the education board.
The Congress leader also alleged the mismatch between the serial numbers on question papers and OMR sheets at centres in Rewari and Kaithal. He also claimed that some candidates were initially issued OMR sheets carrying another candidate’s roll number, which were later replaced after objections. He alleged that spare OMR sheets were available in large numbers, raising doubts over the integrity of the examination process.
Wrong question papers and errors in content
He also claimed that some candidates appearing for the English PGT examination in Rewari were initially given Economics question papers before they were replaced. Surjewala alleged that the question papers contained several errors, including a missing passage for questions numbered “141 to 150”, a Hindi grammar question without the required sentence, spelling mistakes in English words and incorrect translation of the word “Urine” as “Wine” in Hindi. He further claimed that the numbering of questions in the Commerce paper was also incorrect.
Demand for re-test and accountability
Demanding that the PGT examination be cancelled and conducted afresh, Surjewala said the future of thousands of candidates who had prepared for the examination was at stake. He also sought registration of an FIR into the alleged broken seals on question paper packets and action against officials of the Haryana Board of School Education and those allegedly involved in the paper leak. He further demanded that Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini apologise to the state’s youth and accept responsibility for the alleged irregularities. No immediate comments were available from the authorities.
