Uttarakhand scraps exam after paper leak, orders frisking and 5G jammers in halls

Reeling from a fresh paper leak scandal, the Uttarakhand Subordinate Services Selection Commission (UKSSSC) has hit the reset button on its recruitment examinations. Scheduled for October 5, the test for cooperative inspector and assistant development officer posts has been postponed indefinitely — an abrupt move that underscores the depth of the crisis.

The decision follows public uproar after three pages of a graduate-level exam paper allegedly leaked from a Haridwar centre on September 21, triggered a week-long protest by aspirants and a CBI probe by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. Two people, including a candidate who smuggled an iPhone into the hall, have been arrested.

With over 10,000 graduates slated to compete for just 45 posts, the cancelled exam has left thousands in limbo. “We will start from the drawing board,” said Commission chairperson Ganesh Singh Martolia, confirming that only government-run schools and colleges will now be prioritized as test venues, with private institutions used only as a last resort.

Security measures, officials said, will border on the military: biometric checks at entry points, frisking of candidates before and after classroom entry, and round-the-clock police presence. In a first, jammers will be installed even inside washrooms, while candidates stepping out for a toilet break will face mandatory pat-downs before leaving and upon return.

The commission has also engaged Hyderabad-based Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL) to provide technology capable of blocking 5G signals—a loophole exploited in the September breach. “Premises will be combed a day in advance, and mock drills will test all equipment,” Martolia said.

But the moves have not silenced critics. Uttarakhand Berozgar Sangh president Ram Kandwal accused the commission of scrambling only after the scandal. “If these measures are needed now, what does it say about past exams? This is an admission that the system is broken. The overhaul is more about optics than preparedness,” he said.

The episode has shaken faith in a system already scarred by recurring scandals. Dehradun, a hub for thousands of aspirants training at coaching centres, saw over 40,000 candidates appear for the September 21 exam across 121 centres. With stakes so high and corruption so entrenched, candidates say the state’s promise of a “fortified” exam system will be tested not by jammers or frisking — but by whether future papers stay in the exam hall.