Rajasthan's Urban Rural Health Society (RUHS) has cancelled the entire medical officer recruitment examination after serious allegations of procedural lapses and alleged malpractice surfaced across several testing centres in the state. The decision, announced late on Tuesday, sent shockwaves through thousands of candidates who had prepared diligently for months to appear for the competitive exam.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the cancellation came after candidates from multiple centres, including Jodhpur, Jaipur, Bikaner, and Udaipur, lodged complaints alleging that question papers were leaked prior to the examination, answer keys were manipulated, and impersonation took place at select venues. In some cases, candidates reported receiving different sets of questions compared to their peers appearing at nearby centres, raising suspicions of coordinated irregularities.
The RUHS, which operates under the State Health Department and is responsible for recruiting medical professionals for urban health centres across Rajasthan, stated that the cancellation was necessitated by the "untenable situation" created by the irregularities. A senior official said the society would consider reopening the recruitment process from scratch after a thorough independent inquiry into the conduct of the examination.
Lawyers representing several affected candidates have approached the Rajasthan High Court seeking guidance on whether candidates should be allowed to reappear in a fresh exam without additional fees. Legal experts suggest the court may direct a fair re-examination, given the scale of the alleged malpractice.
The cancelled examination was meant to recruit medical officers for urban primary health centres across Rajasthan's seven divisions. Over 45,000 candidates had registered for the test, making it one of the largest medical recruitment drives in the state's recent history. The posts carry significant importance as they provide permanent government employment with competitive pay scales, drawing applications from medical graduates across the country.
