GUWAHATI: The Assam government on Sunday took some tough measures to prevent cheating and thwart any untoward incidents during the conduct of a written test to fill up 30,000 vacant Grade C and D posts.
The exam centres were turned into fortresses by deploying police personnel, and Section 144 was clamped within a 100m radius of the centres. Mobile internet services were suspended during the conduct of the test, held by the Board of Secondary Education, across 25 districts. Except for the centre head, nobody was allowed to carry a cellphone inside.
The next two phases of the exam will be conducted on Aug. 28 and Sept. 11. More than 14.3 lakh candidates appeared for the written test. Recently, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said his government is focussed on giving 1 lakh jobs.
“We are moving forward with a firm resolve to give 1 lakh jobs in a transparent manner. We have already given 30,000 jobs,” he had said.
The CM had apologised to the people for the inconveniences to be caused by the suspension of mobile internet, stating that it was necessary to prevent possible malpractices, including question paper leak. The Assam unit of the All India Professionals’ Congress, however, criticised the government’s decision, terming it “ridiculous” and “comical”.