Vyapam Scam: Documents Show CM, Shivraj Chouhan Delayed Probe

mangaloretoday.com

Bhopal, July 12:  After the Supreme Court ordered a CBI probe into the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh, questions are now being raised whether Chief Minister’s Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s government, as part of strategy, deliberately delayed opting for a CBI probe.

"I am the whistleblower in the Vyapam scam, I found discrepancies and so ordered STF probe," the chief minister recently told NDTV, but a closer look at the Vidhan Sabha records tells a different story.

 

In 2009, Paras Saklecha, then an Independent lawmaker, asked on the floor of the Assembly whether there were any irregularities in the state’s Pre-Medical Test (PMT) conducted by Vyapam or the state examination board, the government’s response was, "We are gathering information on it."

The chief minister, who also held the medical education portfolio at that time, formed a committee to probe allegations of irregularities.

Two years later, another lawmaker asked in the House whether there have been wrongful admissions in dental and medical colleges between 2007 and 2010. But Mr Chouhan simply replied that they have not been able to identify any such candidate.
 
The Opposition again raised question on the issue in the Vidhan Sabha on November 29, 2011 but this time the answer had changed. The chief minister said, "114 such students have been identified as having obtained wrongful admission and the matter was being investigated."

"Time and again the issue of wrong doings by the MPPEB was raised in the Vidhan Sabha but the CM either formed a committee or said they are investigating it but never ordered any action then," said Mr Saklecha, now the state executive member of AAP and social activist.
 
Between July 2011 and June 2013, the chief minister received 17 letters questioning the possibility of a scam in medical college admissions. He promised to investigate and report within 30 days but medical colleges concluded investigations six months later and only included students in their probe. More requests for information on the exam process from 2007 to 2011 led to more evasive answers by the state government repeatedly.
 
"All the questions asked about Vyapam were answered by the state government. I can’t recall if we did not answer some. If you feel that something was left out you can now go to the CBI which will be probing the Vyapam scam," state government spokesperson Dr Narottam Mishra said.

Mr Chouhan’s government is facing Congress charges about a cover-up following the deaths of 35 people with direct or indirect links to the Vyapam scam, a huge admission and recruitment racket in Madhya Pradesh that allegedly involves top bureaucrats and politicians.