New Delhi: Thousands of government job aspirants have been protesting across Uttarakhand including Dehradun for the past five days, with some sitting on a hunger strike in Haldwani on Thursday, following a paper leak in the government recruitment exam held Sunday.
The Uttarakhand Subordinate Services Selection Commission’s (UKSSSC) written examination for graduate-level posts in various departments began at 11 am Sunday (September 21) and was scheduled to conclude at 1 pm. However, concerns arose after Bobby Panwar, a member of the Uttarakhand Berozgaar Sangh, a union of unemployed youth in Uttarakhand formed in March 2018, alleged the paper was leaked half an hour before the exam commenced.
Uttarakhand Berozgar Sangh president Ram Kandwal claimed the paper was leaked allegedly from a centre in Haridwar. The sangh is leading the protests alongside the Swabhiman Morcha.
Some aspirants claimed that at certain centres in Dehradun such as the Graphic Era University and another in Vikas Nagar, the exams began as early as 10:30 am—30 minutes before the official time—with cardboards covering CCTV cameras in some classrooms.
The protests started from Dehradun’s Parade Ground right after the exam on 21 September and have now spread to other places including Uttarkashi, Shiv Nagar, Vikas Nagar, Gopeshwar, Srinagar, Kashipur, Pithoragarh, Chamoli, Karnaprayag and Haldwani where some students began a hunger strike Thursday.
The state has seen a series of paper leaks which first drew attention around 2017–18. The menace escalated in 2021 with Patwari and Lekhpal exams affected. In 2022, the UKSSSC graduate-level exam paper was leaked. By 2023, mounting anger spilled onto the streets, prompting the Pushkar Singh Dhami government to bring in a stringent anti-cheating law.
Vinod Kandwal (28) from Ranikhet, who has come to Haldwani to take part in the protest, told ThePrint, “We have made it clear to everyone that no politician will be allowed to speak here. Only students can speak.”
Kandwal said he has been preparing for competitive exams for the past four years and appeared in the Sunday’s paper too. “I mainly prepare for the PCS (Provincial Civil Service) exam. But the situation is such that we have to sit for every possible exam. We don’t have jobs, that is the reality in Uttarakhand.”
Kandwal said he had appeared in the 2021 exam too. “For aspirants in Uttarakhand, it doesn’t matter how hard you work. Their so-called stringent laws are just for show. Their actions are never against the real culprits. They only act against people like us. Even when we submit evidence, it is turned against us.”
The protesting aspirants have three demands: this examination be cancelled and conducted again within a month, the paper leak case be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation, and UKSSSC officials responsible for this resign.
Based on a complaint by Dehradun’s Raipur Police Station in-charge Girish Negi—the UKSSSC also filed a formal complaint—an FIR was registered Sunday under the stringent Uttarakhand Competitive Examination (Measures for Control and Prevention of Unfair Means in Recruitment) Act, 2023.
Sections 11(1), 11(2) and 12(2) invoked in the FIR deal with the use of unfair means during recruitment exams, organised malpractice involving institutions such as printing presses or coaching centres, and penalties for those found guilty.
These entail punishments including fine up to Rs 10 crore and life imprisonment in aggravated cases.
The FIR, a copy of which ThePrint has seen, names five accused—Suman, Khalid Malik, his sisters Hina and Sabia, and one unidentified individual.
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Preliminary investigation
According to the details mentioned in the FIR, the complaint from the UKSSSC prompted the Dehradun senior superintendent of police to constitute a Special Investigation Team on 21 September.
According to the SIT’s preliminary investigation, no reports of cheating or paper leaks had emerged prior to 11:00 a.m. on Sunday. However, around 1:30 pm, “misleading” social media posts claiming a leak began circulating.
The investigation revealed that Suman, an assistant professor at the Amroda Degree College, Pratapnagar, received a WhatsApp message at 7:55 am from a person named Khalid Malik who wrote, “sister has an exam, need to help her.”
At 08:02 am, Suman replied with an “OK” message, according to the FIR.
Later, at 11:34 am, Suman received a WhatsApp call from Khalid’s sisters Sabia and Hina. Immediately afterwards, at 11:35 a.m., she received three pages of the Graduate Level Examination question paper containing 12 questions on her mobile phone, the FIR states.
Suman hand-wrote the answers and returned them at 11:45 a.m, according to the case details.
“After sending the answers, she started growing suspicious if there was indeed an exam that day. She asked her sister Seema, who suggested to confirm it from Bobby Panwar. Seema then gave Suman his number,” the FIR states.
Thus, rather than informing any authority, Suman contacted Panwar at 12:21 p.m., forwarding the three pages and handwritten answers at 12:28 p.m. During subsequent calls, Panwar instructed Suman not to inform any authorities.
At 12:32 p.m., she again called Panwar, who told her not to disclose the matter to anyone. Further calls were made at 12:42 and 12:43 p.m, according to the FIR.
“By 1:30 pm, Panwar had shared the material on social media, allegedly to create a sensation and discredit the examination,” according to the investigation, which also says that forwarding the answers along with the questions suggested suspicious intent on Suman’s part.
Even if Panwar had informed any authorised department in time, immediate action could have been taken, according to details mentioned in the FIR by Negi, and communicated to the SSP.
Pre-exam arrests
Two days before the exam, the Dehradun Police arrested Hakam Singh, a former BJP leader, and Pankaj Gaur for allegedly promising aspirants jobs for a bribe of Rs 12-15 lakh.
“We came to know they are taking money from aspirants, promising them selection for ₹ 15 lakh. We prepared a student to speak to them over WhatsApp, and the recordings we collected were handed to the STF on 19th September,” said Ram Kandwal.
Students protesting in Srinagar city of Uttarakhand. | By special arrangement
ThePrint reached the Senior Sub Inspector Ajai Singh via calls, but he did not respond. The report will be updated if and when a response is received.
Kandwal also highlighted the impact of the paperleak on students. “Young people are being crushed here. These are children of small employees, farmers… their dreams are destroyed whenever there is a paperleak. Their hopes of getting government jobs vanish in a day.”
Aspirants devastated
Set up under a 2014 Act, the UKSSSC conducts state-level recruitment exams for Group C and other subordinate posts in government departments, including roles like Village Development Officer, Patwari, Lekhpal, Junior Assistant, Forest Guard and others.
Generally, the minimum age is between 18–21 years and the maximum is 42 years, with relaxations for reserved categories as per state rules. While the commission announces hundreds of vacancies every year, ranging from clerical to field posts, the number of aspirants runs into thousands, far outweighing the available seats, reflecting the intense competition for government jobs in the state.
Protesting students and aspirants remain disappointed and disheartened.
Rohan Nautiyal (28) from Uttarkashi, who had been preparing for the exam in Dehradun, told ThePrint, “A day before the exam, we heard in our WhatsApp groups that the paper had been leaked. I was already disheartened, but I went to take the exam hoping it wasn’t true. As soon as I came out, I realised the paper had indeed been leaked—I was devastated.”
Another aspirant, Deepak from Chamoli (31), who has been preparing for government service exams for about seven years, said, “This has become every year’s story. How long will this continue? Even the anti-cheating law couldn’t prevent it.”
Both Nautiyal and Chamoli had appeared in patwari and forensic department exams in 2021 and 2023 as well. Their papers were also leaked.
What government says
At an event Wednesday, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that since 2022, more than 100 people have been arrested in cases related to cheating in exams. He claimed that after the state brought in the strict law, cheating rackets and coaching centres joined forces and were trying to run what he described as a “nakal (cheating) jihad” in Devbhoomi.
Dhami also said that in the last four years, over 25,000 young people secured government jobs on merit through recruitment exams.
“The coaching mafia and cheating mafia come together to carry out nakal jihad in the state… to spread anarchy in the region. To those mafias and jihadis, I warn you that we will not rest till the mafia is destroyed,” he said.
'पेपर चोर-गद्दी छोड़'
आज पूरे उत्तराखंड में ये नारा गूंज रहा है।
उत्तराखंड के लोग गुस्से में हैं, क्योंकि BJP सरकार 15-15 लाख रुपए लेकर अपने चहेतों को नौकरी बांट रही है, पेपर लीक करवा रही है।
उत्तराखंड के युवा BJP सरकार को बर्खास्त करने की मांग कर रहे हैं।
ये मांग जायज है। pic.twitter.com/6IIBuVasg8
— Congress (@INCIndia) September 24, 2025
On the Sunday paperleak, the UKSSSC said only three pages of the question paper were leaked and that the incident occurred at a Haridwar centre, not across the state. However, students argue that even minor leaks can significantly impact results. Nautiyal added, “They are saying it’s only three pages, but even 0.5 or 1 mark matters. We lose out because of this.”
Tribhuvan Chauhan, the president of Uttarakhand Sangharsh Morcha, said the incident was “not just a leak but theft. You are robbing the youth of opportunities and employment”.
The preliminary report by the SIT, submitted 21 September, has been sent for further action.
Not first time
In 2021, the Patwari and Lekhpal recruitment exams were marred by reports of paper leak. Students accused middlemen of openly selling papers. Several arrests were made.
By 2022, the issue exploded with the leakage of the UKSSSC graduate-level recruitment paper, with more than a lakh aspirants affected. Investigations revealed an organised nexus involving officials and local strongmen, with Hakam Singh emerging as the “mastermind” in allegedly orchestrating multiple leaks.
His repeated arrests, including in connection with the 2021 UKSSSC paperleak, highlighted how entrenched the problem had become.
Kandwal said the police did not monitor Hakam Singh after he came out of jail, so the organisation had to keep an eye on him.
Public anger spilled onto the streets in late 2022 and early 2023, with unemployed youth and student groups staging large protests across Dehradun and other towns. Their main demand was not only the cancellation of tainted exams but also a foolproof system to protect future recruitment exercises.
The scale of the agitation pushed the Dhami government to act and it came out with the Uttarakhand Competitive Examination (Measures for Prevention of Unfair Means in Recruitment) Ordinance, 2023. The governor gave assent to the ordinance on 10 February 2023. It was subsequently passed as the state’s anti-cheating law.
The legislation introduced some of the toughest provisions to deal with paper leak cases in the country: life imprisonment and fines up to ₹10 crore for those involved in leaking or selling papers; three years in jail and fines of at least ₹5 lakh for candidates caught cheating; and strict measures against institutions or presses complicit in exam fraud.
Crucially, offences under the law were made cognisable, non-bailable, and non-compoundable, signalling the state’s intent to crack down on what had become a systemic menace.
But students, aspirants and organisations leading the protests now say the law has failed to deliver. “It’s been three years since this law was brought in, yet not a single case has been registered against the mafia. Instead, it’s students who are booked on the pretext of spreading fake news,” Kandwal told ThePrint.
Echoing the frustration, Nautiyal added, “We plead with our parents year after year to give us one more chance to prepare for government jobs. And then this happens, it breaks your spirit. The least the government could have done was to catch the cheating mafia.”
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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