Kolkata, 23 May (H.S.): The West Bengal government has announced a major step aimed at increasing transparency in the state’s recruitment process. Candidates appearing in government recruitment examinations will now be mandatorily provided with carbon copies of their OMR sheets.

The announcement was made by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari during a government-organised employment fair in Sealdah on Saturday. Union Minister of State and BJP leader Sukanta Majumdar was also present at the programme.

Addressing the gathering, the Chief Minister said the government would introduce a new law in the next session of the state Assembly to reform the recruitment process. Criticising the previous All India Trinamool Congress government over alleged recruitment scams, he said examinations were conducted through the OMR system earlier as well, but candidates were not provided with carbon copies of their answer sheets.

“Every job aspirant should have a carbon copy of the OMR sheet. The culture of keeping these copies confined within the system gave rise to allegations of nepotism and corruption. This system will now be changed,” he said.

The Chief Minister further stated that the government is reviewing the distribution of marks allocated to written examinations, academic qualifications, and interviews to make the recruitment process more transparent. He added that the administration is particularly considering reducing the weightage of interview marks, as allegations of bias were most common in that area.

Suvendu Adhikari alleged that large-scale corruption had taken place in recruitment during the tenure of the previous government, tarnishing the state’s image across the country. He said the present administration aims to restore the confidence of job aspirants by establishing a credible and transparent recruitment system.

Political observers believe that the recruitment scam has remained one of the most significant issues in West Bengal politics over the past several years. In that context, the decision to make OMR sheet carbon copies mandatory, along with the proposal for a new recruitment policy, is being viewed as politically significant as well.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey