SRPF cancels Daund constable recruitment exam over question paper duplication, retest on May 24

Pune: SRPF has officially cancelled the written examination for recruitment to constable posts at its Group 5 unit in Daund, nearly two weeks after it was put on hold over allegations of question paper duplication, following an internal inquiry.Additional Director General of Maharashtra State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) Rajkumar Vhatkar told TOI that the probe found that 85 of the 100 questions in the examination held on May 2 had allegedly been copied from study material provided by a private coaching institute.Based on the inquiry findings, the authorities decided to cancel the examination.“A fresh written examination will be conducted on May 24. Candidates who had already registered and appeared for the earlier examination will not be required to apply again. Fresh admit cards will be issued to them,” Vhatkar said.The controversy came to light after several candidates claimed that a large number of questions in the examination matched material circulated by a private coaching institute. Following the examination, videos comparing questions from the institute’s course material with those asked in the test surfaced on social media, with the coaching institute allegedly using them to promote the accuracy of its preparation material.Officials from the coaching institute later told reporters that they, too, were surprised by the extent of the similarity between the exam paper and their study material.“In the past, some questions were occasionally similar to those from our course material, but this is the first time we have seen such a large number of identical questions,” an official said.The issue soon drew political attention after concerns were raised by NCP (SP)’s Baramati MP Supriya Sule and Congress MLA Vijay Wadettiwar, following which an inquiry was ordered on May 4.Sule had demanded fair and transparent recruitment examinations to maintain the credibility of the process, while Wadettiwar called for an investigation into whether any insider involvement or internal support had led to the alleged duplication of questions.More than 3,500 candidates had appeared for the recruitment examination, which was conducted to fill 85 constable posts at the SRPF Daund unit.A senior SRPF official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “Question papers for such examinations are prepared internally by a senior official from the SRPF group concerned.”When asked whether action would be taken against those responsible, the officer said the matter had been referred to the department concerned for appropriate action.“To avoid similar issues in future, the inquiry report has been forwarded to the department concerned so that necessary corrective measures can be taken,” the official said.