Under fire, U'khand govt removes UKSSSC secretary Santosh Badoni

The STF constitutes in this regard has arrested at least 29 accused in the case pertaining to scam in the written test conducetd in December 2021 for 854 posts across 13 departments.

Dehradun: Under fire from the opposition over the 2021 Uttarakhand Subordinate Services Selection Commission (UKSSSC) recruitment scam, the state government has suspended commission Secretary Santosh Badoni. An order issued to this effect said that Badoni showed gross negligence and indifference to his duties and responsibilities.

The latest action in the scam comes amid mounting opposition pressure on the Pushkar Singh Dhami-led BJP government. The STF constituted by the state police in this regard has arrested at least 29 accused in the case. The case pertains to the scam in the written test conducted in December 2021 for 854 posts across 13 departments.

The Uttarakhand Congress has opened a front against the government with Congress state president Karan Mahra while demanding a CBI probe into the case, has described the recruitment scam as a “matter of two states”. Mehra was referring to some of the arrests made in Uttar Pradesh in the case. He said that the scope of investigation of STF is limited thereby necessitating the probe by a central agency like CBI.

In the past, Uttarakhand Congress in-charge Devendra Yadav had said that jobs in the state were being given to the “nears and dears of the BJP government without any interview and examination”. “On the other hand, qualified and educated youth are forced to wander without jobs. In Uttarakhand, scams are coming to the fore in recruitment in many departments and after that big fish are being saved,” he alleged.

Deputy Leader of Opposition Bhuvan Kapri and Haldwani MLA Sumit Hridayesh said that the scam has tarnished the image of the state. The Uttarakhand Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to has demanded a probe by the CBI and the ED into “recruitment scams in the state”.