BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC) has banned wristwatches during the recruitment examination for assistant section officer (ASO) posts. The written examination for the post in group-B of Odisha Secretariat Service is scheduled on August 21.
Issuing a notice, the OPSC said that any kind of digital and manual wrist watches will not be allowed into the examination centres as wall clocks would be installed in every examination room. “All the candidates are strictly advised not to wear any kind of wrist watches while appearing for the examination,” the directive read.
Sources said since digital watches can be used to commit malpractice and it is difficult to check if analog watches have other computing functions, both kinds of watches have been banned in the exam centre. For the convenience of the candidates, wall clocks will be installed in all rooms of the exam centre, they added.
The examination is being conducted for recruitment of 796 ASOs. The written exam will be held at 33 zones in the State. At national-level, smart or digital watches are banned for examinations like UPSC, ICSE and ISC, CBSE Central Teacher Eligibility Test and Banking exams.