Nimhans employees' assn suspects foul play in exam

The employees' association at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (Nimhans) has appealed to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to look into alleged question paper leak of the nursing exams.

In an appeal made to Modi and the ministry, Nagaraja A G, president of the Nimhans Employees' Association has sought a CBI enquiry into the allegation of corruption and paper leak of Nimhans recruitment exam which was conducted to fill about 160 vacant posts at the premier health facility.

The Association claimed that the paper was leaked through WhatsApp and that several candidates received copies of a manuscript that was being circulated. The exam was conducted across the country for which over 9,000 candidates had appeared.

The exam in question was conducted by a private player and the association has alleged that this player was involved in several question paper leaks in the past and the CBI had booked 10 officials of this private limited company for question paper leak.

"It appears, CCTV and the DVR were accessed by the registrar and a Group 'A' official when the section head was on leave. The exam so conducted is dubious and the recruitment by an Institute of National Importance can’t be conducted in a doubtful/ fraudulent manner," reads the appeal to Modi.

However, a senior official of Nimhans denied the allegation as baseless. "The circulation of the paper was brought to our notice two days after the exam held in June. We do not believe it as if really the paper was leaked, it would have been brought to our notice on the day of the exam itself," said a top official.

The official, while denying any leak, said several publishers ask experts, who set question papers, to share questions so as to compile a question bank. "We believe that such set of questions have been shared after the examination and circulated on WhatsApp."