Overview
- Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Sunday warned that Deputy Commissioners will be held responsible for any question paper leak in the state's recruitment examinations.
- The state issued operational orders that make CCTV mandatory at exam centres, require additional security for question papers, and demand documentation of preparation, transport and distribution steps.
- The direction follows the nationwide NEET paper-leak controversy that prompted protests and the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, a comparison repeatedly cited by state leaders.
- BJP Leader of Opposition R. Ashoka accused the Congress of double standards and called the move a way to create 'ready-made scapegoats,' and the Congress had not responded to those allegations in the published reports.
- Deputy Commissioners are district-level administrative chiefs who will now face enforcement pressure, a change that could speed on-site checks but also politicise local officials and affect candidates and staff involved in the 70,000‑post recruitment exercise.