Rohit Pawar said an agitation will be launched if govt fails to give adequate responses by Aug-end on allegations of several paper leaks

Mumbai/Pune: On the heels of nationwide CJP protests over the NEET paper leak, NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar on Monday alleged that students of a coaching class in Nandurbar had got access to 90% of the questions two days before Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC)’s FDA drug inspector (B) recruitment exam on March 22. He said it was likely that the paper-setter was involved and demanded a CBI probe.MPSC chief Vivek Bhimanwar said a police complaint would be lodged and a detailed inquiry conducted. He said one Gaurav Patil had emailed a complaint to MPSC on July 21 but retracted it on July 26. “He sent us an email saying he had written a false complaint because he did not get selected and felt there would be a long gap before the next exam.” He said police would now have to examine both Patil and another candidate, Rishikesh Gangurde, who had made the complaint viral. “It’s important that the transparent image of MPSC is maintained,” said Bhimanwar. Both had been called to the MPSC office but refused to turn up, he said.Pawar alleged that the paper was leaked to candidates of Kautilya Academy in Nandurbar. “A fee of Rs 12 lakh was paid for the paper, of which Rs 5 lakh was paid in advance.” He said the questions were shared on WhatsApp, and one student downloaded them before they were deleted and forwarded them to another person.Bhimanwar said 31,000 of the 45,000-odd applicants had appeared for the exam. The result was declared on June 12 and interviews conducted till July 22. The provisional merit list was declared on July 22. However, a day prior, MPSC got an email that the paper had leaked and one candidate had benefited from it. The commission asked for proof and on July 23, the complainant sent an email with screenshots of applicants and said those revealed that questions were received before the exam. However, on July 26, he sent another email retracting the complaint.Stepping up the heat, Pawar and other MVA parties—Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT)—alleged that several recruitment exams in Maharashtra, including those for TET, NEET, SRPF, HSC chemistry, water conservation, public works department, kotwal, talathi and Mahagenco, had faced paper leak allegations in recent years. “When I raised the issue of the talathi exam leak in the assembly, revenue minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil threatened to lodge an FIR against me. If we do not get answers on what has been done by Aug-end, we will launch an agitation,” said Pawar.State Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal said, “Recently, the TET paper was leaked and govt faced the embarrassment of cancelling the exam. There are allegations that a racket is active in the state which takes money to increase candidates’ percentile in MHT-CET so that they can get admissions in better educational institutions.” Congress said its agitation over the NEET paper leak will continue as it had demanded criminal action against former Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.Deputy leader of Shiv Sena (UBT) Sushma Andhare questioned why MPSC came out with a response only on Monday when it had got the complaint earlier.Meanwhile, CM Devendra Fadnavis defended Pradhan, praising his education reforms, including National Education Policy. (With inputs from Vijay V Singh)

Mumbai: The BMC has proposed leasing 15 acres of reclaimed land at the Mulund dumping ground to the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) for five years to set up a casting yard, precast element manufacturing facility and ready-mix concrete (RMC) plant, with the civic body expected to earn a rental of around Rs 103.47 crore in rent over the lease period.The proposal, cleared by the civic administration, will be placed before the Improvement Committee meeting to be held on Tuesday afternoon.It proposes leasing 60,703 sq m of land to Navbharat Mega Developers Pvt Ltd, the company appointed by the state government to execute the Dharavi Redevelopment Project.According to the proposal, the land forms part of the Mulund landfill where biomining is underway. While portions of the site have already been reclaimed, the proposed 15-acre parcel still contains an estimated 2.5-3 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste, requiring removal, site remediation, soil stabilisation and levelling before it can be used.The BMC considered several options for fixing the lease rental and eventually adopted the rate already approved by its bridges department for casting yards used in infrastructure projects. The rent has been fixed at Rs 252 per sq m per month, with a 6% annual escalation. This works out to a gross rental of around Rs 103.47 crore over five years.However, Navbharat Mega Developers will undertake remediation of the site at an estimated cost of Rs 20.04 crore, which will be adjusted against the lease rental after verification by the chief engineer (Solid Waste Management). Following this adjustment, the civic body will receive a net rental of Rs 83.44 crore, while the total amount payable including 18% GST will be about Rs 100 crore.Under the proposed payment mechanism, the developer will pay six months’ rent with GST in advance after taking possession of the land. The remediation cost will then be adjusted against rental dues over the following 14 months, after which the full rent, with annual escalation, will become payable for the remainder of the lease period.The proposal states that the land will be handed over on an “as is where is” basis and can be used only for the approved purposes of establishing a casting yard, precast element manufacturing unit and RMC plant. “Any extension of the five-year lease will require fresh approval from the competent authority,” said an official.The lease also places the responsibility of obtaining all statutory and environmental clearances—including approvals from the State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), wherever applicable—on the developer.The developer will also be required to scientifically process all legacy waste in accordance with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, comply with environmental monitoring norms, and provide infrastructure such as CCTV surveillance, access control systems and safety facilities at the site.

MUMBAI: Maharashtra’s examination system faced fresh scrutiny on Monday as NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar stepped up allegations of irregularities in the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) examination for recruitment of drug inspectors, while the number of arrests in the separate Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) paper leak case rose to 15.Rohit Pawar on Monday stepped up his attack over alleged irregularities in the MPSC examination for recruitment of drug inspectors, demanding an independent probe into the matter.The MPSC, however, said it had found inconsistencies in the complaint and announced that it would lodge an FIR to protect the credibility of the commission.The controversy intensified after Pawar met food and drug administration commissioner tukaram Mundhe along with competitive examination aspirants.In a post on X, Pawar said he urged Mundhe to ensure an “independent, impartial and time-bound inquiry” into the alleged paper leak.Pawar said a memorandum had been submitted to Mundhe and expressed confidence that the MPSC, which conducted the examination, would take appropriate action after receiving all relevant documents.According to news agency PTI, MPSC chairman Vivek Bhimanwar issued a detailed clarification on the allegations.The MPSC had conducted the drug inspector examination on March 22 for around 31,000 candidates and declared the results on June 12. Interviews were held from July 1 to July 12, following which the provisional merit list was published, Bhimanwar said.“The commission received an email on July 21 alleging malpractice and seeking cancellation of the examination but found the complaint vague and asked the complainant to furnish evidence. Another email received on July 23 contained screenshots of WhatsApp chats claiming the March 22 question paper had been circulated on March 20,” he said.The complainants were contacted and asked to submit evidence and visit the MPSC office, but no one turned up, Bhimanwar said.He said the commission had also summoned candidates whose names figured in the complaint.“On July 26, the complainant sent another email claiming the allegations were based on incorrect assumptions and admitting he had attempted to create doubts over the examination after failing to qualify because the recruitment was being held after 12 to 14 years and might not be conducted again for another decade,” he said.“However, to maintain the stature of the Commission, we are in the process of filing an FIR. Whatever the police probe reveals, we will take action accordingly,” Bhimanwar said.He identified the complainant as Gaurav alias Lokesh Patil and the candidate as Rushikesh Gangurde.“However, Gangurde has posted a statement on Instagram saying he is firm on his complaint. We will hear him out and police will carry out their probe. We want students to have confidence in MPSC,” Bhimanwar added.In a post on X, Gangurde said he had not withdrawn his allegations.“I have not withdrawn my complaint. Gaurav and his father came to me. They said they want to live there. They are under pressure,” he said in a social media post.Gangurde urged students to file their complaints with the MPSC and seek clarification.Addressing a press conference earlier, Pawar alleged that the recruitment process had been compromised and demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).“The entire MPSC paper may not have been leaked, but the person who set the paper was compromised. The question paper was allegedly shared with candidates through WhatsApp and deleted within five minutes. The matter came to light after one of the recipients forwarded the questions to a friend,” he claimed.Pawar alleged that students had submitted a complaint to the MPSC on July 21 but no action was taken and that they were instead threatened with police action.He also questioned how the son and daughter of a deputy tehsildar secured 13th and 16th ranks in the examination. His party had found a “Barshi connection” in the alleged irregularities, he added. Barshi is a tehsil in Solapur district.Pawar also said one of the accused in the TET paper leak case was associated with the BJP.Responding to the allegations, Kautilya Academy director Pravin Patil denied any wrongdoing.“I have committed no offence. I have never heard of an MPSC paper leak. The students concerned visited me only for guidance on interview preparation. The WhatsApp chats and recordings are being presented in a misleading manner. I am ready to face any inquiry. The allegations against me are false,” Patil said.Later in the day, Pawar questioned a handwritten statement purportedly by some students claiming that the complaint about the alleged paper leak had been made in jest.In a post on X, he asked how the authorities could describe the complaint as a joke while simultaneously acknowledging screenshots of the question paper.He also questioned why an inquiry had been initiated if the complaint was not genuine.“Students may have been threatened into writing the statement, but the truth can never be hidden. Every attempt to suppress it only exposes more inconsistencies. The youth are intelligent and will ensure that the truth comes out,” Pawar said.The Maharashtra Congress, in a post, sought a thorough probe, adding that the party would stand with students if the MPSC was using pressure tactics against them.Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sushma Andhare alleged that pressure had been exerted on the complainant and claimed he was not reachable.She also questioned why Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had not spoken on the issue.TET paper leak case: Accused surrenders, arrests reach 15Meanwhile, in the separate TET paper leak case, a suspect surrendered before a court in Bhiwandi on Monday and was subsequently arrested, taking the total number of those held to 15, an official said, according to news agency PTI.Defence counsel advocate Shailesh Gaikwad said Sonu Kumar Diwakar surrendered following the arrest of the alleged main kingpin, Bijendra Gupta.Following his surrender, the court directed the police to submit their plea regarding custody, after which Bhiwandi police formally took custody of Diwakar for further interrogation, Gaikwad said.Of the 14 persons arrested earlier, 12 are in judicial custody, while alleged mastermind Gupta and his aide Indrajit Singh are in police custody.Gaikwad said the bail applications filed on behalf of Gupta’s wife Suman Kumari and co-accused Naresh Kumar Mahaur, Sanjay Kumar Sharma and Mithun Kumar will be heard by the Bhiwandi court on July 29.The initial FIR in the TET paper leak case was registered by Bhiwandi police on June 26.The racket was allegedly exposed a day before the TET 2026 examination after Bhiwandi police received specific information that a gang from Delhi had arrived in the area to sell TET question paper sets for Rs 1.5 crore.Under the guidance of DCP Pawan Bansod, a police team laid a trap along the Mumbai-Nashik Highway under Kongaon police station and intercepted three persons, seizing mobile phones, cash and four sets of TET question papers.Subsequent verification by the Maharashtra State Council of Examinations confirmed that the seized papers matched the actual examination papers, leading to the registration of an FIR at the local police station, officials said.(With agency inputs)

Mumbai: The CET Cell has filed a complaint with the state’s Cyber Cell and the Azad Maidan Police Station after two videos alleging discrepancies in the provisional merit list for engineering admissions, along with claims of manipulation of exam centres, surfaced on social media and were widely circulated among students. The cell has asked the police not only to identify the source of the videos and the persons involved in creating, uploading and circulating them, but also to verify the veracity of the claims made in them. No FIR has been registered in the matter yet. Around 2.35 lakh students registered for the centralised admission process (CAP) for engineering.A person in one of the videos alleged that students who scored higher marks (100th percentile) in the MHT-CET physics-chemistry-mathematics (PCM) examination scored poorly in the state board exams, claiming that this is almost ‘impossible’. In the same video, an audio clip played by the person alleged that CET examination centres can be manipulated and that they can help students secure the 99th percentile in the CET in return for money.Clarifying that the mismatch between HSC and CET scores is not an anomaly but occurs across score bands and entrance examinations, CET Cell Commissioner Dileep Sardesai said that 202 students who scored between the 98th and 100th percentile in the MHT-CET secured 40-50% in the PCM subjects in the HSC board examinations. He added that the reverse was also true, with 50 students scoring above 90% in the HSC board examinations but below the 30th percentile in the MHT-CET.Sharing data across different score bands, he said that 69 students who scored between the 40th and 50th percentile in the MHT-CET secured between the 90th and 100th percentile in JEE (Main) as well, and that there was no pattern in the same. Sardesai said that the format of the board and the entrance examinations are different and such mismatches in scores occur across entrance examinations. The CET Cell authorities will analyse the data further and see the background of the 202 students and the exam centres from where they appeared.About the allegation on manipulation in allotment of centres, Sardesai said that these are centrally allotted by the CET cell and in an automated manner. He said that this year the CET cell has also limited the use of exam centres to computer laboratories in govt and private engineering colleges.Of the total 25 sessions conducted for the PCM exams, it was found that GH Raisoni College of Engineering (Pune) had 222 students who scored above the 99th percentile in the exam, followed by Thakur College (Kandivali) with 133 students, and GH Raisoni Technical Institute (120), Govt Engineering College (108) and Shah and Anchor Kutchhi Engineering College (99). These centres also had more students appearing for the exam, said the CET Cell authorities, adding that these will be analysed further too.