Recruitment of dental surgeons: Cong delegation meets Guv, alleges bid to 'cover up'

Chandigarh, Dec 8 (PTI) A delegation of the Congress on Wednesday met Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya and sought an independent probe into the recruitment of dental surgeons under the supervision of a sitting High Court judge. The Congress delegation alleged that an attempt is being made to to "cover up corruption" to save higher-ups.

The delegation of 20 Congress MLAs was led by former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC) Deputy Secretary Anil Nagar was sacked on Tuesday, days after he was arrested for allegedly taking bribe to manipulate marks of candidates for their recruitment as dental surgeons.

The Haryana Congress had on Tuesday held a demonstration in Panchkula against the “corruption” in the recruitment of dental surgeons and demanded a judicial probe into it the issue.

On Wednesday, Hooda led a delegation of party MLAs and submitted a memorandum to the Governor, demanding an independent probe under supervision of a sitting judge of the High Court.

“To bring out the truth in the case, strict action be taken against the culprits involved so that future of the youth is not jeopardised,” read the memorandum.

Hooda said dismissing the HPSC deputy secretary was only a “cover-up exercise” and only an independent probe could throw light on “complicity” of higher-ups.

Before meeting the Governor, Hooda told reporters, “Right from the start, we had been saying that jobs are on sale under this government, which has been making hollow claims of giving these on merit in a transparent manner.” “Sacked deputy secretary of the HPSC alone could not execute the entire scam. His position was like a salesman in a shop, who cannot operate alone. It is a deep-rooted conspiracy which can be unearthed by an independent probe,” he said.

“We want to ask why there is no action against the HPSC head when such a big scam has come to light. He cannot distance himself from what has happened and since he is holding a constitutional post, the government should either recommend his removal to the Governor or he should himself step down to pave way for a fair independent inquiry,” said Hooda.

Addressing a separate news conference, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said under the BJP-led regime, jobs have been on sale.

“Now, operation cover up is going on,” he said.

Pointing to a para in Nagar's dismissal order by the government, Surjewala said, “Anil Nagar was the custodian of all relevant records and there is no surety of the sanctity of the record kept by him.” He said government was trying to “hush up” the case and so far neither the HPSC head and its members have not been called for investigation.

At the press conference, Congress leader Kiran Choudhary said the BJP government has been hit by various scams and alleged that hushing up things has become a “routine” with them. PTI SUN RDK RDK