Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday asserted that not a single examination paper has leaked in the state during the AAP government's four-and-a-half years in office and dismissed the opposition's allegations as an attempt to tarnish the state's image.
"Our government has completed four-and-a-half years in office, but not a single examination paper has leaked in Punjab during this period," Mann said.
He accused the BJP, Congress and Akali Dal of levelling false allegations of paper leak.
Mann said his government had provided 69,000 government jobs without farmaish or recommendations, paper leaks or bribery, with recruitments made solely based on merit.
Speaking during his visit to Parliament in Delhi, where he met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav and other MPs, Mann referred to the recent pharmacy officer recruitment examination to rebut the opposition's claims, according to an official release.
"A few days ago, we detected a case of cheating during a pharmacy examination. The exam started at 11 am and by 11.15 am we had found that a candidate was using a Bluetooth-enabled pen to scan the question paper and receive answers through an earpiece," Mann said.
The Punjab Police acted swiftly, arresting 10 candidates and an 11-member gang involved in the cheating racket. All of them were sent to jail, Mann said.
Rejecting the opposition's demand for Education Minister Harjot Bain's resignation, Mann said the pharmacy officer examination was conducted by the health department and not the education department.
"The health minister has already clarified that there was no paper leak. It was merely an attempt at cheating, which was immediately stopped, and the examination concluded successfully. Paper leaks cannot happen in Punjab," Mann said.