Vyapam wanted to conduct exams at national level

After Madhya Pradesh, the Vyavsayik Pariksha Mandal or Vyapam was mulling conducting examinations at the national level, an RTI query has revealed.

Vyapam -- or the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board -- conducts examinations to recruit government employees in Madhya Pradesh and holds admission tests for medical courses.

The reply received under the Right to Information (RTI), that was given to whistleblower Ajay Dubey last month, speaks of the proceedings of a meeting of Vyapam's Board of Management in 2012.

"The Mandal (Vyapam) gets to know from the newspapers that at the national level, examinations like MET, Pre PG, medical tests and engineering tests are going to be conducted through Joint Entrance Test. The chairman has also expressed that the Mandal has the expertise in the area of conducting examinations.

"So, the agencies which conduct examinations through JET at the national level could be made aware about the credentials of Vyapam through its different sections. So that any examination-related work which can be outsourced, could be given to Vyapam," the RTI reply said.

It further said: "In Vyapam, there is a database for all central invigilators, supervisors, coordinators and for every examination centre. There is a digitised process facility available for the results. If external agencies are given the responsibility to conduct such examinations, then Vyapam should get the priority since it is its primary job."

Scams related to Vyapam came to light when 20 people were arrested in 2013 for impersonating candidates appearing for the 2009 medical entrance examinations.

According to reports, the admission and recruitment scam involving politicians, officials and businessmen in Madhya Pradesh could be pegged at Rs.20,000 crore involving about 30,000 people.

Dubey told IANS the proposal was mooted during the meeting of the Board of Management in 2012, when Ranjana Chaudhury was the chairman.

"The examination board which is already embroiled in a scam, wanted to conduct examinations at the national level. Had they got the approval, this would have been disastrous," he said.

Over 40 people -- allegedly linked with the Vyapam scam -- have died, mostly under mysterious circumstances.