As the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) continues to make arrests in the police sub-inspector (PSI) recruitment scam, a former IPS officer has expressed concerns over the delayed re-examination. The scam that came to light in Kalaburagi district led to the state government cancelling all PSI recruitments following allegations of irregularities in the recruitment of police sub-inspectors and a case was registered in April 2022. It was later decided that candidates who wrote the exam could appear for it again, with the exception of the candidates arrested by the CID. However, no dates for re-examination have been announced so far, despite the now-cancelled exam being held in October 2021. This gap is expected to lead to a massive shortage of personnel in the posts of sub-inspectors.
Bhaskar Rao, a leader of the Aam Aadmi Party and former Commissioner of Police of Bengaluru, took to Twitter to highlight the multiple requests made by him on PSI recruitment to the Chief Minister, Basavaraj Bommai and Karnataka Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot. In his tweet he said, “I have made numerous requests to Hon CM&Governor to 1.) conduct the PSIs exam without waiting for investigation, 2.) Please consider to enhance age to at least 30, 3.) Conduct and Fast track results of all Govt exams, 4.) Stop Outsourcing. Desperate Youth are waiting for jobs. Pl Act (sic).”
I have made numerous requests to Hon CM&Governor to 1.)conduct the PSIs exam without waiting for investigation,2.)Please consider to enhance age to at least 30 3.) Conduct and Fast track results of all Govt exams.4.)Stop Outsourcing.Desperate Youth are waiting for jobs. Pl Act
— Bhaskar Rao (@Nimmabhaskar22) October 16, 2022
Speaking to TNM, he said, “The investigation has been going on for months and will go on for many more months. While I fully support it, it is unfair to the candidates who were honest in their exam and have been suffering over the uncertainty of this situation. It is unfair that the government has stalled the recruitment of all eligible candidates till the investigation is over. I have placed my suggestion with the CM and the Governor that recruitment must not wait for the investigation to be over. If a candidate is found guilty of malpractice, they can always be suspended later on.” He added that every year recruitment took place for more than 500 posts of PSIs and with senior police officers constantly retiring, it would be difficult to keep up with the demand of the force. “Soon, we will face a situation where the force demands personnel in thousands, but we will only be able to give them 500 recruits every year as there are not enough resources to carry out such massive training and recruitment,” Rao said.
Rao also said that the shortage of officials was giving rise to outsourcing. “Quite often, even police work is outsourced to Home Guards, who are a part of the police force. But when it comes to departments such as Revenue, Transport and Social Welfare, there is no recruitment taking place. They ask agencies who in turn approach third-party agencies to lend manpower to these government departments. We are not asking for additional posts to be created, these are all existing sanctioned posts being outsourced to third-party agents, and there is no one who can be held accountable,” he said. Rao believed that outsourcing also posed a serious security threat in places such as metros, where people are outsourced for security purposes from security agencies.
Highlighting the country’s rising unemployment, Rao also said that Karnataka had the lowest cut-off age for applying to a PSI post pointing to the fact Karnataka’s upper age limit was 25 years with a relaxation of two years for reserved category candidates, while states like Maharashtra had an upper age limit of 31 years with relaxation of three years for reserved category candidates. “Many deserving candidates have lost out on these opportunities due to reasons such as the pandemic. With a wider age limit, the opportunity is open to a wider range of candidates. The limit must at least be increased to 30 years,” he further said.
The Karnataka Police Sub-Inspector (PSI) examination was held in October 2021 for 545 police sub-inspector posts with 54,289 candidates appearing for it. After allegations that the answer sheets of some candidates who wrote the exams held at the Jnana Jyothi English Medium School at Kalaburagi were tampered with, a preliminary inquiry was conducted by the CID and a case was registered.
The PSI scam snowballed into a major controversy in the state with allegations against politicians and senior police officers, among others. Congress MLA Priyank Kharge had alleged that more than 300 candidates had paid Rs 70 to 80 lakh bribes to officials and ministers, which led to a war of words between the Congress and BJP. The investigation into the alleged corruption in the examination saw a twist with 28 candidates approaching the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal (KAT) against the en masse cancellation of exams and fresh exams ordered.