After the computer centre in the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) was sealed, based on specific information that the systems were tampered with to favour some candidates, officials have decided to check at random Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets pertaining to different recruitments held in recent years, police sources said on Monday.
Even as experts from the Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification (STQC) Directorate attached to the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology are expected to analyse the systems for any unauthorised manual intervention, investigators decided to take sample OMR sheets and cross check the results.
“Many hall tickets and registration numbers of candidates were found on the premises of TNPSC Chairman, Members and officials when searches were conducted by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) recently. We intend to check the OMR sheets of these candidates and compare the score with the original evaluation,” an investigator said.
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On whether the reassessment would have any bearing on the selection already made, the official said the exercise was not a re-evaluation of answer sheets but only an attempt to detect discrepancies, if any. “This is not to reassess the performance or answer scripts of candidates with regard to appointments made. We are only trying to see if there was any irregularity. If a case of favoritism or fraud is made out, appropriate action will be taken as per rules.”
DVAC officials are also making enquiries with a contractor and some software professionals engaged by him to handle the computer centre of the TNPSC. IT-related work in the commission was outsourced in the last five years.
“It is possible that those who handled the systems may have resorted to manual intervention with or without knowledge that they were deviating from the established security norms,” a DVAC official said.
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