Corruption allegations rock AESRB, 'Fight against injustice of APSC' forum demands probe

Guwahati, September 05: The forum ‘Fight Against Injustice of APSC’ has accused the Assam Engineering Services Recruitment Board (AESRB) of corruption, manipulation, and irregularities in recruitment.

Addressing a press conference, forum admin Manash Pratim Baruah said, “Cut-off marks and written exam results were not made public, while appointments were finalized within 48 hours of declaration of results. This lack of transparency raises serious questions about the fairness of the process.”

The forum alleged that irregularities began right from the formation of the board. In June 2021, Dhrubajyoti Bora, who hailed from arts background, was appointed as Director of Technical Education and made Member Secretary of AESRB, replacing Dr. Atul Bora, Principal of Assam Engineering College, who fulfilled all required eligibility criteria.

The forum said this was a violation of the Assam Technical Service Rules, 1981, which require a Master’s or Doctorate in Engineering with substantial teaching and research experience.

Citing specific instances, Baruah pointed to anomalies in lecturer recruitment. “In 2023, there was an examination under AESRB. Candidates were supposed to be graduates with results declared. Yet, one candidate was selected even though she had not cleared her exam at the time of the advertisement.”

He further explained, “When the irregularity was pointed out, her appointment was verbally cancelled, citing a ‘verification error.’ But how can such a major error occur in a recruitment process with multiple verification stages? No action was taken against her, and later she was inducted again.”

The candidate was identified as Ms. Angelina Gogoi, whose appointment as lecturer in a polytechnic was initially cancelled but who was reselected in the following recruitment drive.

The forum also raised strong objections against the 25-mark Teaching Proficiency Test (TPT). They alleged that the test had no clear rules or guidelines for evaluation, leaving the process entirely at the discretion of board members and creating ample scope for manipulation.

Other allegations included the use of wrong questions and answer keys, non-disclosure of written exam marks, cut-off scores not being published, and questionable evaluation methods. The press release also cited suspicious selection patterns, with candidates bearing consecutive roll numbers being chosen in bulk — 19 out of 72 in Civil Engineering, 12 out of 42 in Mechanical, and 6 out of 15 in Electrical.

The forum further pointed out that highly qualified candidates, including PhD holders from IITs and recipients of prestigious fellowships, were consistently overlooked in favor of less qualified or favored applicants.

Terming the situation a grim threat to the future of students, the forum demanded immediate government accountability and corrective measures to restore transparency in recruitment. Officials of AESRB and the state government are yet to respond to the allegations.