Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee (PSC) President Deepak Baij specifically took the BJP-led State Government on a crackdown by questioning it about alleged irregularities in PSC examination and proposed auction of the Tara coal block.
During the press conference, Deepak Baij alleged that the Government was putting the future of young people at risk and turning over the state’s water, forests and land to the “favour special industrialists”.
Questions Over PSC Examination
The BJP had issued a promise during the upcoming Assembly elections in 2023 that PSC examination would be transparent, as per the UPSC system. But he stated that important irregularities had surfaced in the exam procedure, he said.
As per Deepak Baij, the examination was held for 300 vacancies but it is expected that 3 times more candidates appear than the vacancies available which is expected to have appeared in the main exam and further steps the interview process. He stated that the number of candidates taken for interview was just 608, adding that there are more who fulfilled the minimum mark as stated in the prescribed form should have been taken for the interview as well.
He also doubted about the assessment of the main examination answer sheets for 2024. Two answer papers with identical answers have been found,” said Baij, “one candidate has been given no marks and the other is being marked. He wondered why the candidates should be awarded the same marks when they gave the same answer.
Opposition to Tara Coal Block Auction
Baij also accused the Government plans to auction the Tara coal block offering preferential treatment to specific industrialists.
He noted that the region of Lemru is significant for wildlife conservation and thus the previous Congress government took steps in conservation of the region. The Centre is alleged to have received correspondences from various groups requesting not to place some coal blocks for sale, such as Tara and eight others, under his leadership.
He also cited an affidavit presented in the Supreme Court in the context of mining activities against Hasdeo Aranya and asserted that the Coal Ministry has said that it enlisted 40 coal blocks that do not participate in the auction round.
Concerns Over Elephant Habitat
Baij also asked the government what it thinks about the possibility of the Lemru region being an elephant habitat. He alleged that the state government has sent the Centre a letter dated Dec 11, 2025, saying the region was not in the elephant active zone.
Baij further stated that the area is a place where elephants troop regularly and cautioned that large scale cutting and coal mining might lead to more human elephant conflict as elephants would approach human settlements.
He also called for an impartial probe into alleged irregularities in the PSC and urged the government to revisit the auctions of the Tara coal block and the other blocks in the Hasdeo region.