The Telangana government on Tuesday scrapped the TS EAMCET-II 2016 examination in the wake of leakage of the question paper last month and said a fresh exam will be held for admission to medical courses in the state.
The government made an announcement to this effect after Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao held a meeting with a couple of his cabinet colleagues and top officials.
The Chief Minister asked Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) to announce a new schedule for EAMCET-III. He appealed to students and parents to understand the circumstances in which the decision had to be taken and cooperate with the authorities.
The official announcement was made after Hyderabad High Court asked the state government to inform whether it plans to conduct a fresh exam.
The state government conveyed its decision to the court, which was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) for cancellation of EAMCET-II. The court, however, dismissed the plea for supervising the conduct of the fresh exam.
Meanwhile, the Crime Investigation Department (CID), which is probing the leakage, briefed the Chief Minister of the progress made so far. According to a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office, the question paper leakage racket was spread across the country with Delhi as its centre.
The officials told the Chief Minister that 34 brokers were involved in the racket. Mukul Jain, Mayank Sharma, Sunil Singh and Irfan were the key accused.
The CID has so far arrested six brokers and traced five others. The Chief Minister was also informed that 200 students and their parents approached brokers and were part of the paper leakage conspiracy. He has directed the CID to take legal action against students and parents involved.
Terming the leakage as unfortunate, Rao said thousands of students had to suffer because of the mistake of a few. He directed officials that the fresh exam should be conducted on old hall tickets and no fee should be collected from the candidates. He said the government would do everything possible to ensure that students do not lose the academic year.
The Chief Minister asked JNTU to appoint a new convenor, co-convenor and other officials to conduct the fresh exam. He also asked the officials to make fool-proof arrangements.
More than 50,000 students had appeared in TS EAMCET-II held on July 9 but doubts about the leakage of question paper were raised with average students bagging top ranks.
Following persistent demands by a section of students and their parents, the government ordered a CID inquiry.
The CID has so far arrested six brokers, who allegedly conducted practice for some students in Pune, Bengaluru and other cities with leaked question papers.
