News Analysis India

Tag: REET Exam

  • Gehlot govt gets tough over REET exam cheating, 20 officials suspended

    Express News Service

    JAIPUR: The Rajasthan government has suspended 20 officials including a RAS and two RPS officers for their suspicious role in failing to prevent cheating during the recent REET exam. 

    The move comes after the wife of a police constable was given the REET examination paper almost an hour before the test began last Sunday. 

    The REET exam was held to recruit 31,000 teachers for government schools in the state. 

    Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has announced that if the suspended officials are found guilty, they will be terminated from the service. Over the past year, paper leak and cheating rackets have been discovered in 5 major competitive exams in the state. With the role of many other officials also being regarded as dubious, the number of suspended officials could well rise in the near future. 

    This is the very first time in Rajasthan’s history that senior administrative and police personnel, as well as teachers, have been suspended in large numbers. Rajasthan Police had also detained five people on Monday for allegedly selling Bluetooth device-equipped ‘chappals’ worth Rs 6 lakh to applicants in the REET examination. 

    Taking strict action against those involved in allegedly suspicious activities during the REET-2021exam, the Rajasthan government has suspended 2 senior officials and 13 employees of the education department. In Sawai Madhopur district’s Wazirpur, Sub-Divisional Officer Narendra Kumar Meena (RAS) and two RPS officers named Narayan Tiwari and Rajulal Meena have been suspended. There were suspicious around the role of 13 employees of the education department during the conduct of the exam on Sunday. 

    The officials were suspended after FIRs were registered against them, according to School Education Minister Govind Singh Dotasra. He asserted that the employees will be terminated from service in case allegations are found true after the police investigation. Those suspended included 10 teachers, one lecturer, one physical education teacher, and one junior assistant. 

    In order to avoid cheating during the highly competitive REET examination, the Rajasthan administration had halted internet and phone services in over a dozen districts of the state, including capital Jaipur, from 6 am to 6 pm on Sunday. In addition, over 70,000 policemen were put on duty to counter cheating threats in the REET exam which saw 16 lakh candidates enrolling for the recruitment of 31,000 teachers in government schools of the state. 

    Paper leaks and cheating rackets have become a huge headache for the Gehlot government in recent times. Over the past year, such incidents have rocked five major competitive exams in the state. These include the Test to recruit SIs, NEET-2021, JEN-2021, Librarians of Grade 3 and now the REET Exam for recruiting teachers. By taking strict action against dubious officials, the Gehlot government is trying to check the menace that threatens to give a bad name to all government recruitment tests in the state.

  • Over 16 lakh to appear for REET exam, Rajasthan govt announces free food, travel

    Express News Service

    JAIPUR: Conducting the much-awaited Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teachers (REET), slated for Sunday, has become a huge headache for the Gehlot government in Rajasthan. 

    Over 16 lakh candidates will appear for this exam to fill up 31,000 posts of teachers in government schools across the state. This crucial exam was postponed five times in the past and organising it successfully has become a logistical and administrative challenge for the government. Over 5,500 home guards and 50 companies of RAC, MBC, SDRF and other armed forces have been deployed to ensure that unlike in the past the exam is conducted without any malpractice. 

    The REET test will see a total of 16 lakh and 22 thousand candidates appearing at 3,993 examination centres. In Jaipur alone, around 2.5 lakh aspirants will take the examination at 592 centres. Around 10,000 policemen will be deployed in the Pink City and surveillance will be done through drone cameras. At each centre, a team of 6 policemen will be on duty and a special vigilance team of 100 police officials will also be on alert. To avoid overcrowding, five temporary bus stands have been set up in Jaipur.    

    All candidates will be given face masks at their respective centres. The Jaipur district administration also plans to provide free travel in Metro train for the convenience of the REET aspirants. Of the total number of 2.50 lakh candidates appearing for the exam in Jaipur, over 1.33 lakh will come from other districts of the state. 

    In addition, the Rajasthan government has declared REET duty as an essential service for all employees in order to conduct this examination without any disturbance. To facilitate easy movement of candidates, the state government has allowed free travel in roadways as well as private buses for students appearing in REET. The Railways will also run 13 special trains to ferry REET applicants. Free food will be provided in 350 Indira Rasoi in all 33 districts for candidates appearing for exams. The government has appealed to over 250 social organisations to arrange free accommodation for candidates coming from other cities to appear in the exams. 

    With cheating in exams is a big threat, the Gehlot government has said that it would take strict action against any person found using or facilitating unfair means during the REET exams. Not just that, the government has said that if any employee is found facilitating cheating or leaking the paper, s/he will be terminated from service.

    In a tweet, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot has said: “Report of any illegal activity in relation to the paper to the police, strict action will be taken against those conspiring in context of REET and spreading rumors about paper leak during the exam.” 

    In Bhilwara district, Internet services have already been snapped for 12 hours on September 26. District collectors all across the state have been empowered to shut down internet services as and when they deem fit to prevent any possibility of cheating through net-linked services. 

    Traffic police have launched a mobile initiative to help candidates to locate their centres. In all 33 districts, candidates will be given free food at Indira Rasoi centres and arrangements have also been made to provide free staying facilities for the over 16 lakh candidates who will appear on Sunday. But despite all the efforts, the successful conduct of the REET exam remains a tough challenge for the Gehlot government which has collected over 100 crores as fees from REET candidates.

  • Rajasthan government to ensure free bus travel for REET exam candidates on Sunday

    By PTI

    JAIPUR: The Rajasthan government will be providing free travel facility to all the candidates appearing for the Rajasthan Teacher Eligibility Test (REET) scheduled on Sunday.

    It has also warned that if any government employee is found indulging in paper leak or copying, they will be dismissed from service.

    More than 16 lakh candidates are set to appear in the examination to be held at around 4,000 centres in the state.

    Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot chaired a high-level meeting on Thursday regarding the official preparations for holding the examination.

    In the meeting, Gehlot said free travel facility would be provided to all the candidates appearing in REET 2021.

    He said that if any government officer/employee is found to be involved in cases like paper leak, dummy candidates taking the exam and copying in recruitment examinations, they should be dismissed from service.

    Also, if the involvement of any private school personnel or person associated with the school is found, then the recognition of that school should be terminated permanently, Gehlot said.

    The Chief Minister said the hard work of candidates gets washed away whenever a paper gets leaked or copying takes place in competitive examinations.

    He said there should not be any negligence in any examination centre and told officials to install CCTV cameras at all such centres.

    The Chief Minister appealed for cooperation from the general public to help the candidates.

    Transport Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas said all the state roadway buses will be available for free travel for the candidates.

    Along with this, public transport and other private buses are also being arranged.

    He said that necessary guidelines have been issued to the transport officers in this regard.

    Minister of State for Education Govind Singh Dotasra said all preparations have been made by the department to conduct the exam in a transparent manner.

    He suggested that to prevent paper leaks and copying, there should be a complete ban on carrying mobile phones inside the examination centre.

    Special vigil should be kept on the “gangs” and coaching centres involved in paper leaks and copying.

    He said that at the time of entering the examination centre, a new face mask should be made available so that the incidents of copying could be prevented as some candidates conceal Bluetooth devices in their mask.

    Meanwhile, the Railways has given consent to run 11 special trains for the candidates while requests have been made for more such trains on the day.