Headline, December 16 2024/ JOBS : ''' THIEVES* GOLD THEOREM '''

JOBS : ''' THIEVES*

 GOLD THEOREM '''

MEERUT - INDIA : THIEVES SEE A GOLD MINE IN EXAMS for government jobs coveted by millions. The call arrived - it was go time. The medical doctor rushed to the airport - bound for a midnight operation in western India.

But this mission was not about saving lives. The doctor carried a screwdriver, a pair of pliers, a blade and a cellphone - tools for a heist.

His target was something worth more than gold in India's cutthroat competition for government jobs and university placements : the question sheets for a police constable exam.

After landing in the city Ahmedabad, the doctor, Shubham Mandal, was hurried to a freight warehouse on its outskirts, according to the police documents and interviews with the lead investigator by The New York Times.

To avoid surveillance cameras, Dr Mandal climbed through a back window into a room stacked with boxes. There, the police say, he pried upon one marked '' confidential '' and took out an envelope.

He used his phone's camera to photograph each page inside before resealing the envelope and locking the box. He would repeat the exercise at least once in the nights that followed, as new sheets arrived at the warehouse from the printing house.

Waiting in a car each time were three men, including the police say, the burglary's mastermind, Ravi Atri.

Mr. Atri saw himself as part criminal, part Robin Hood. He had taken the national medical school entrance exam five times, and ultimately passed, but never became a doctor. Instead, he turned to stealing tests to help others.

No job was too small for him and his gang. He had previously had a hand in leaking questions on exams for nursing jobs, banking jobs, teaching jobs and slots at vocational institutes, the police say, and had been jailed at least twice.

The constable exam, his latest quarry, would be taken in February of this year by nearly five million people vying for 60,000 vacancies in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Attari's home base.

A new constable is paid about $400 a month. But even the lowest-paid government jobs in India are coveted for their stability and aspirants endure months of grueling study in expensive tuition centers to prepare for the exams that govern hiring.

Mr. Atari offered a leg up. And now, with the constable test in his hands, the race was on. Mr.Atari sent the signal to his vast network of local agents in Uttar Pradesh.

They had already booked a big restaurant hall and a lush resort where thousands of his clients would be bused in for a crash course in the answers.

They just had to avoid getting caught '' If this works, you will get so much money that you will not need to do anything else in your life,'' Mr. Attari told one of the warehouse workers he had patiently cultivated to get access to the exam, according to the police report.

'' And you will also get a government job.'' Thieves see nothing but a gold mine in India's exams.

' A HUGE imbalance ' : Mr. Atari and people like him capitalize on what has long been a structural problem in India's economy : too many educated young people, too few jobs.

India has one of the fastest-expanding economies in the world. But much of the growth comes from the services sector, and is not generating enough jobs for the country's huge working-age population.

Nearly half of Indians still toil on farms, and a vast majority of private jobs in India are informal. That makes government jobs highly prized. Last year, 1.3 million people applied for 1,000 slots in the prestigious civil service of central government.

Allotting jobs on the basis of exam results conveys a sense of fairness. But with competition so fierce, the temptation to seek shortcuts can be strong.

The Honour and Serving of the Latest Global Operational Research and Publishing on Education, Jobs and Affairs, continues. The World Students Society thanks authors Mujib Mashal and Hari Kumar.

With respectful dedication to the Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See You all prepare for Great Global Elections on The World Students Society - the exclusive and eternal ownership of every student in the world : wssciw.blogspot.com and Twitter X !E-WOW! - The Ecosystem 2011 :

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