Dimapur, May 27 (MExN): Two clerks of the Nagaland Public Service Commission who were accused in the recent answer-script swapping scandal today wrote to the Media virtually disclaiming any involvement in the entire dud. The two, Zavekholu E-pao and Phuholi Sumi said in their statement that their side of the entire story was never heard. For instance, they said NPSC materials were never in their custody but in the custody of the ‘Exam Controller.’ Again, among other surprising revelations, they also mentioned a “camera” which was said to have been “undone” by the ‘Exam Controller’ even after she was requested to switch it on.
Narrating their side of the story, Zavekholu E-pao and Phuholi Sumi said to have joined the NPSC in 1998 and 1985 respectively. “We had been faithfully working till the day we were suspended i.e., the 2nd March 2009. Even that day we were at work in the office till 4 p.m.” they said while lamenting that ‘we should have been asked to sort it out internally if there was any clerical error’.
The statement said the “NPSC office” blew the errors out of proportion. “We simply do the clerical work of NPSC office, hence nothing as such as NPSC materials are under our custody. We have been assigned by the NPSC office authority to do the coding of answer scripts; however it was done under the strict supervision of the Controller of Exam of NPSC office. We were suspected that swapping of answer scripts of 11 (eleven) candidates were done during the coding of the script. Exam Controller herself was present throughout. She is supposed to have seen us. You can ask the Controller of Exam” the statement said.
Further, they said, invigilator’s signature was missing in one of the answer scripts. They explained: “We took permission from the Controller of Exam for which we used a pen on the table for signature. The pen ink is blue and the rest are black ink and while collecting answer scripts after the completion of exam at the examination hall, one of our colleagues had inadvertently forgotten to sign one column. We detected it and signed the column without thinking of any complicity. If there was any ground rule regarding the matter in which the concerned invigilator should sign both columns, why were we not informed of it before the exam?”
NPSC answer scripts are under the custody of ‘Exam Controller’, the statement said, “so even if there was any lapse we are not responsible”. Regarding the “camera” the two NPSC clerks said: “We insisted the Controller of Exam to switch on the camera, which was undone by her. Had the camera been used, then the controversial statements between us could have been easily settled from the recording. However, she must have had a pre-meditated plan to shift the whole blame on us. It’s highly unexpected from a person with such a stature.”
“Now the ball is in the court of the judiciary. It is a very clear case of conspiracy to victimize us since we were never given the opportunity to clarify our clerical error, if there is any. By grossly violating the established right of a government servant, we were directly suspended”, E-pao and Sumi said
When the news of the entire issue spread, the two lamented, many organizations “took it as if a messiah has been born in NPSC office, taking into granted whatever was said and done by NPSC office as gospel truth”. Owing to “external and third party pressures”, they said, “even the court of law finds it difficult to give neutral verdict upon the matter”. E-Pao and Sumi expressed happiness that the Naga Students’ Federation has given four days time to the government to settle the matter.
“As good citizens of the land, we respect the investigating agency and offer our fullest co-operation so that the court cross examine the FIR filed so that reasonable judgment can be arrived at. However, due to third party interference in the court, it has been delayed. For which we would like to publish our statements for the public to judge”.
