Amid the continuing controversy over the conduct of examinations in India, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday alleged major irregularities in the prestigious Group-1 examination held under the previous YSRCP government, citing findings from forensic investigations and the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL).
Speaking in the Assembly, Naidu claimed that individuals listed as electricians, plumbers, data-entry operators, drivers and construction workers were among those involved in evaluating Group-1 examination answer scripts.
He questioned how people in such occupations could have been assigned the responsibility of assessing answer sheets for a high-level competitive examination.
Naidu also highlighted cases where different handwriting appeared within the same answer script, raising the possibility that someone other than the candidate may have written portions of the answers. He said forensic analysis had found evidence supporting such discrepancies.
According to Naidu, CFSL reports detected alterations, overwriting, additions and deletions in the answer scripts of 734 candidates. He claimed that 718 of those candidates, accounting for around 97.82%, had such changes or corrections, raising questions about the integrity of the examination process.
The Chief Minister further said that 21 corrected answer scripts did not contain the required signatures. He explained that any corrections were supposed to be authenticated by the examiner or chief examiner, and argued that the absence of signatures suggested that established procedures had not been followed.
Naidu also alleged serious problems in the evaluation process itself. He said Part-1 was evaluated digitally in Hyderabad, where 97 evaluators were appointed, including 25 whom he termed completely unauthorised.
He claimed the second stage of evaluation took place at Highland. Although officials described the process as manual, Naidu alleged that it was actually conducted digitally. He said 66 evaluators were involved in this stage and claimed that all of them were unauthorised.
He also raised concerns over the manual evaluation conducted at the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) office. According to Naidu, 162 evaluators were appointed for the process, including 50 degree lecturers.
The Chief Minister said examinations of such a high level are normally evaluated by professors, Heads of Departments and university academics. However, he alleged that degree lecturers were appointed instead and that rules were repeatedly violated during the evaluation process.
Naidu described the alleged lapses as an “illegal process within an illegal system”, saying they raised serious doubts about the credibility, transparency and fairness of the Group-1 examination conducted during the previous YSRCP government.
