BENGALURU: The employees’ association of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (Nimhans) has alleged that the question paper of the June 3 staff nurse examination conducted to fill 160 posts was leaked, and demanded a CBI probe into it.Suspecting a larger conspiracy, the association has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union minister for health and family welfare Jagat Prakash Nadda for an unbiased inquiry.The results were announced on July 7 despite the demand for a probe. The shortlisted candidates have been asked to appear for a skill test in Bengaluru on Monday, 8am.According to association president AG Nagaraja, the online examination was held at several centres across the country, including Bengaluru. The association claimed a set of question papers was leaked and shared through WhatsApp a day before the exam. On June 5, the association wrote to the Nimhans director demanding a CBI probe. However, an internal inquiry committee was formed, indicating it would be conducted without assistance from police or the institute’s vigilance officer.“There was not even an attempt to include a network engineer/network technical expert as a fact-finding expert. It was also found that the DVR of surveillance cameras in the chief office of the examination room had been removed,” said the letter, a copy of which is with TOI. Prior to this, the association had written to Nadda but received no reply.Nimhans director Dr BN Gangadhar rubbished the allegations. “There are no grounds for these claims. This exam is conducted online with strict monitoring. It’s an all-India-level exam, with less than 10% success rate. There is no reservation for any state,” he said.he claimed preliminary inquiry found that the questions were made public after the exam by candidates themselves, and not before the test.However, sources in Nimhnas alleged the examination was conducted by a private company, which had earlier been accused of leaking the question paper of another recruitment exam. In April 2018, the CBI booked the company for the leak and 17 people, including several of its employees, were arrested.The association has raised suspicion over how aspirants from one community dominated the shortlisted candidates in the scheduled tribes (ST) category.Fifteen of the 16 candidates shortlisted under the ST category are from the Meena community, largely found in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh . There are 12 posts open for recruitment under the ST category.Asked about objections to Meena community members dominating the ST candidates’ list, the director said the examination was conducted in all fairness. “We looked into the selection process when objections were raised which, incidentally, have been put forth by the employees’ association and not candidates who applied for the exam. Besides, Meena community members are coming up in all fields,” said Dr Gangadhar.

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