The Assam Chief Minister has announced a shut down of mobile internet service for four hours on August 21 and 28, to ensure that no candidate cheats in the government recruitment exams. They are held to fill 27,000 government posts in various departments.
Internet shut, but why?
On August 21, the exam would be held between 10 am to 12 pm and again from 2 pm to 4 pm, and the same timings would be scheduled for August 28 as well. So, internet will be shutdown during these hours.
Sarma said that he did not want to take any kind of risk after previously reported cases of cheating during government exams and would want the rightly deserving ones to secure the Grade III and Grade IV posts. The exams observe lakhs of students turning up annually.
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The exam is part of the largest recruitment drive in the state for which around 14 lakh students will appear this year.
Measures taken to ensure no cheating is done
Internet services won’t be available around the examination centres in all districts where the exam is being conducted, the government said. Section 144 of CrPC will be imposed as tight security arrangements have been made in every examination centre, the government added.
Based on Sarma’s directions, all officers would adhere to the Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs) to maintain a transparent and foolproof mechanism for recruiting competent youth.
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One nodal officer would be appointed in each 25 districts, and gazetted officers would be assigned as observers to ensure the SOPs are implemented appropriately. Apart from them, there would be assistance from the sub-inspector level police officers and other personnel.
Exam centre rules
As part of the rules, candidates as well as the invigilators are barred from carrying mobile phones or any other electronic gadgets into the examination centres. The centre-in-charge in each examination centre has been directed to video graph the examination centre.
As per the regulations, once a candidate completes the exam and leaves the centre, they would not be permitted to re-enter in that particular shift. District police chiefs have been requested to keep their intelligence network active in the centres to ensure all the security systems are functioning.
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Sarma added that there would be no disruptions in the wired internet, and only the mobile internet would be shut down to avoid incidents such as getting the question paper leaked on WhatsApp. “I would like to apologise to the public for the inconvenience”, added Sarma.
The first phase of the examination for filling Grade-III and Grade-IV posts is being held today, followed by August 28 and September 11.
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