Bhopal, Jul 19 (IANS): Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday said his government will conduct an inquiry into the alleged “irregularities” in the appointment of Patwaris (revenue officer) and whoever is found involved will be punished.

His statement came a week after he announced the appointment of selected candidates in the Group 4 Patwaris recruitment exams.

Chouhan said: “A little doubt arose in the Patwari recruitment exam, so I decided that there will be no appointment, investigation will be done.”

He also assured that if any “irregularity” is found, he will take tough action against those found involved.

“If any fault is found, 'mama' (or maternal uncle as he is popularly known) will set the culprits right,” Chouhan said.

While it has been over a week since the matter come to the fore as it was found that seven out of ten toppers were from one particular exams centre – Gwalior-based NRI college owned by BJP MLA Sanjeev Kushwaha, the MP government was yet make it clear that who exactly investigating the matter?

Around 1.4 million students appeared for the examination conducted between March 15 to April 26 and the results were declared on June 30. Chief Minister Chouhan had announced the appointment of over 9,000 selected candidates following a massive protest by aspirants in Indore and Bhopal last week.

Meanwhile, there are protests from youth enrolled with different coaching centres, especially from Indore and the youth wing of the opposition Congress, while those not get selected in any of these exams are raising their apprehensions and alleging that the Madhya Pradesh Employee Selection Board (MP-ESB) was indulging in gross irregularities.

The SEB is an autonomous body under the Madhya Pradesh government that is tasked to conduct exams for the various departments of the state government. It is the same body that at the heart of the Vyapam scam that broke out back in 2013.