REET Paper Leak Case, All You Need to Know about REET Paper Leak

REET is the eligibility test for the direct recruitment of primary and upper primary government school teachers in Rajasthan. The exam is held at two levels—level 1 exam is conducted for the recruitment of primary teachers and the level II exam is held to recruit teachers for the upper primary level.

How was the REET 2021 paper leaked?

In the REET 2021 exam conducted in September 2021, more than 16 lakh candidates appeared for around 31,000 posts. Due to the massive number of candidates appearing for REET, each district administration looked after arrangements, with heavy deployment of the police force and free bus travel provided by the government for the aspirants.

Right after the exam, allegations of irregularities surfaced. The Rajasthan Police claimed the Bikaner police recovered Bluetooth devices in slippers from some people, who were arrested on the same day the exam was concluded. Later, the Rajasthan Police constituted a special operations group (SOG), which during its investigation found proof that the paper was indeed leaked.

According to SOG ADG Ashok Rathore, the question paper was stolen and leaked from Shiksha Sankul—the campus in Jaipur where multiple offices of the departments related to education along with educational institutions are located—on September 24, two days before REET.

When was REET 2021 result declared?

Despite the paper leak row and protests by candidates and opposition parties, the Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education (RBSE) declared the REET 2021 results on November 2, 2021.

After the results are declared, the candidates need to apply for the posts and submit their REET passing certificate along with their educational qualification certificates. The government then prepares the merit list based on candidates’ score in REET and their educational certificates after following all conditions for reservation.

Why did Rajasthan government cancel REET 2021?

Facing a backlash by the opposition parties in the legislative assembly as well as from the candidates, who appeared in the REET Level II exam, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on February 7 announced the decision to cancel the REET Level-2 exam.

The chief minister said the Special Operation Group (SOG) of police is investigating discrepancies in the REET 2021. Recently, the SOG arrested REET Jaipur district coordinator Pradeep Parashar in connection with the exam paper leak case.

When will REET 2021 re-exam be conducted?

As announced by Gehlot, the REET 2021 level II exam will be conducted in July 2022 and there will be recruitment for a total of 62,000 posts in both levels. “We will bring back the previous system of the Government of India, of (holding) two exams — an eligibility test and then a final test,” the chief minister said.

Stating that the government will bring a strong law in the Assembly against irregularities in examinations, Gehlot said cancelling REET was an “unfortunate event”, but the decision was taken after taking into consideration the future of the aspirants.

On Monday, Gehlot also announced 30,000 more posts, which will increase the total number of posts under REET level-I and level-II from 32,000 to 62,000. He said that out of the 62,000 posts, recruitment for around 15,500 of them will take place soon, as these will be candidates who took the level-I exam. The level-I exam has not been cancelled.