Information panel pulls up HSSC for destroying answer sheets

CHANDIGARH: The Haryana State Information Commission (SIC) has ordered that government records, including answer sheets and question booklets of various examinations, should not be destroyed till all the right to information (RTI) applications pertaining to these are disposed of.

A candidate who appeared for an examination conducted by the Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC) was declared unsuccessful. However, when he sought information pertaining to his answer sheets and question booklets, the HSSC did not provide it to him, stating the records have been destroyed.

Deciding on the RTI appeal of Rakesh Hooda who took the HSSC exam for recruitment to the post of excise and taxation inspector, state information commissioner Shiv Raman Gaur ordered that the selection committee in consultation with the state government should draw a retention schedule of records pertaining to examinations on the lines of retention schedule adopted by the Union Public Service Commission.

Gaur, in his October 9 order, said a large cloud of doubt and suspicion looms over the procedures adopted by the HSSC for conducting examinations, evaluating answer sheets and retaining relevant records.

“No doubt the system is extremely arbitrary and opaque and has caused a lot of suspicion in the minds of aspirants. The opaque procedure and arbitrariness resorted by the HSSC breeds not only malpractices but can also lead to corruption at different levels,” Gaur said.

The SIC said that the retention schedule for the conduct of examinations changed from examination to examination and there was no uniform policy.

“It is high time that the HSSC revisits its policy regarding retention of examination records to ensure transparency and accountability,” the SIC said.

‘I WOULD HAVE TOPPED THE EXAM’

The applicant contended that he would have topped the written examination whereas the candidates finally selected by the HSSC should have been far behind him as far as their written performance was concerned.

The applicant contended he was sure of his success after comparing his answers with the answer key provided by the HSSC. He held that his score should have been more than 80% which was above the cutoff.

But he was declared unsuccessful on the basis of the written examination and his roll number was missing from the records of the HSSC. Aggrieved by this, he filed an RTI application seeking information relating to his answer sheets and question booklets. The HSSC never provided him answer sheets and question booklets.

WITH NO UNIFORM POLICY FOR RETENTION OF ANSWER SHEETS, THE PANEL COULD NOT PROVIDE INFORMATION TO A CANDIDATE WHO FILED AN RTI PLEA

ANSWER SHEETS DESTROYED

The respondent state public information officer (SPIO) said that as per the resolutions passed by the HSSC in 1992, the answer sheets are required to be retained as record for a period of six months.

However in 1994, the HSSC reduced the period of retention from six to three months and again in 2008, it ordered the answer sheets to be destroyed immediately after the examination, the SPIO said.

The SIC recommended that disciplinary proceedings be initiated against the then respondent SPIO and current SPIO of Haryana Staff Selection Commission for providing misleading information.