On the second day of his Jan Sangharsh Yatra, Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Friday called for the restructuring of the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) following the arrest of one of its members in a paper leak case. Mr. Pilot was raising the issues of corruption and paper leaks in the government recruitment examination during his five-day-long yatra from Ajmer to Jaipur.
Addressing his supporters at the toll plaza near Kishangarh in Ajmer district, the former Deputy Chief Minister said there was an urgent need to change the entire structure of the public employment body to prevent the recurrence of corrupt practices.
“An RPSC member has been arrested in a paper leak case for the first time in history... It needs a complete overhaul,” Mr. Pilot said.
RPSC member Babulal Katara was arrested last month on charges of leaking the question paper of a teachers’ recruitment examination in 2022.
The Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Rajasthan Police claimed that Mr. Katara had demanded and received a bribe of ₹60 lakh for leaking the paper to a mafia involved in supplying question papers to the candidates.
Mr. Pilot selected Ajmer for starting his 125-km-long yatra on Thursday, as the RPSC and the Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education are headquartered in the city. Ajmer is also the Lok Sabha constituency from where Mr. Pilot was elected in 2009.
Thousands of supporters welcomed Mr. Pilot in Kishangarh and showered him with flowers. The yatra traversed through Bandar Sindri village, where the Central University of Rajasthan is situated, and stopped at Gaiji Mod near Padasoli village in the evening for the night halt.
Asked by journalists about the speculation on his plans to leave the Congress, Mr. Pilot said the conjectures were unwarranted because “Whatever I say, I do it in front of everyone”. “I don’t talk with double meaning... My demand is collective, not individual, and I am fighting for the youth like never before,” he said.
The Tonk MLA also said his 125-km-long yatra, in which he was marching on foot from the RPSC office in Ajmer to Jaipur, was not directed at any person, but was meant to raise “certain issues” which were in the interest of the Congress as a ruling party in the State.
“We are winning in Karnataka because we raised the issue of corruption with the charge of 40% commission. If we don’t work on the same issue in Rajasthan, how will we make ourselves credible before people,” he asked.
