Rohit Pawar seeks halt to Maharashtra drug inspector recruitment over alleged MPSC paper leak

Nationalist Congress PartySharadchandra Pawar NCPSP MLA Rohit Pawar on Monday sought an immediate halt to the recruitment of 154 drug inspectors in Maharashtra alleging that questions from the Maharashtra Public Service Commission MPSC screening test had circulated on WhatsApp two days before the examination and matched more than 90 per cent of the actual paperPawar submitted a letter to Food and Drug Administration FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe seeking a freeze on the recruitment process and later approached MPSC Chairman Vivek Bhimanwar with what he described as digital evidence of the alleged leakNCPSP MLA Rohit Pawarrsquos letter seeking a halt to the recruitment process and a probe into the alleged paper leakThe MPSC however contested the allegations Bhimanwar said a candidate who had complained about the alleged leak subsequently emailed the commission saying the claim had been made ldquoin jestrdquo because a friend had failed the examination and wanted it cancelled The commission said it would approach the police to investigate the allegationsPawarrsquos claimsSpeaking outside the FDA headquarters Pawar linked the integrity of drug inspector recruitment to public healthldquoIf an officer buys their way into the FDA for lakhs of rupees their priority will be recovering that money not checking spurious drugs We have seen tragic outcomes like fatal cough syrup incidents mdash we cannot allow compromised officers into the systemrdquo he saidForensic probe soughtPawar has questioned the circumstances under which the complainant withdrew the allegation and claimed complainants may have been pressured into retracting their statementsRohit Pawar legs crossed meets FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe leftover the alleged irregularities in the MPSC Drug Inspector recruitment examination PicsBy Special ArrangementHe has sought a forensic examination of the alleged WhatsApp trail to determine when the material was created and circulated and whether it corresponded with questions that subsequently appeared in the examinationWhat Rohit Pawar wantsgtgt Immediate stay on appointments and further recruitment proceedingsgtgt Cancellation of the examinationgtgt Fresh examinationgtgt Independent timebound investigationgtgt A probe by the Central Bureau of Investigationgtgt Forensic audit of WhatsApp chat backups and other digital evidenceExamination under scannerPost Drug inspector Group BAdvertisement No 162025Vacancies 154Exam date March 22 2026Candidates Over 31500Alleged circulation of questions March 20Provisional merit list July 22lsquoSerious doubtsrsquoIn his representation to FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe Pawar alleged that questions circulated on WhatsApp two days before the March 22 examination bore a striking similarity to the actual paper ldquoSerious doubts of grave malpractices have surfaced regarding the drug inspector screening test conducted on March 22 2026rdquo Pawar wroteldquoEvidence circulating across social media platforms indicates that question papers were shared on WhatsApp status two days prior to the exam showing a striking similarity of over 90 with the actual paper Photos of questions sent on March 20 resulted in candidates scoring suspiciously high marksrdquoMPSC says complainant retracted claimMPSC Chairman Vivek Bhimanwar rejected suggestions that the commissions examination system had been compromisedldquoThe screening test was conducted offline on March 22 for over 31500 candidates and provisional merit lists were issued on July 22 after conducting interviewsrdquo Bhimanwar saidHe said the commission received emails alleging a paper leak on July 21ldquoWe received vague emails on July 21 claiming paper leaks However the complainant candidate emailed us admitting that the allegation was made in jest because a friend failed the exam and wanted it cancelledrdquo Bhimanwar saidlsquoCommitted to transparencyrsquoBhimanwar said the commission would approach the police to investigate the matter ldquoWe are committed to total transparency If anyone has genuine digital evidence they should present it to the authorities instead of spreading confusionrdquo he saidClaim and counterclaimPawar saysgtgt Questions circulated on WhatsApp on March 20 two days before the examgtgt The circulated questions allegedly matched more than 90 per cent of the March 22 papergtgt Some candidates allegedly secured suspiciously high marksgtgt The complainant may have been pressured into withdrawing the allegationgtgt Recruitment should be stopped and the exam held againMPSC saysgtgt The examination system remains securegtgt It received ldquovague emailsrdquo alleging a leak on July 21gtgt The complainant subsequently said the allegation had been made ldquoin jestrdquogtgt The commission will approach police for an investigationgtgt Anyone possessing genuine digital evidence should submit it to the authorities