RANCHI: A physical test for the excise constable recruitment drive claimed one more life on Saturday, making the total number of deaths in the recruitment drive up to 13 in Jharkhand.
The deceased has been identified as Muramulla Suraya alias Bala, a resident of Jamshedpur, who had collapsed while taking the test in Ranchi on Thursday and was admitted to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences.
He participated in the race on Thursday and according to his running mates, he completed the race in 52 minutes and fainted on the field.
He was examined on the ground and was referred to RIMS, where he died during treatment on Saturday Morning.
Brain stroke is believed to be the cause of death and is yet to be confirmed.
Bala who was in his early twenties was the eldest of three sons and would help the family by doing petty jobs for running the family.
The excise constable recruitment drive, which was halted on the instructions of Chief Minister Hemant Soren after the unfortunate death of 12 candidates at seven centers all over the state, was resumed from September 10 with changed rules. The drive at Palamu, which claimed a maximum of 4 lives, had been relocated and candidates were distributed among other six centers.
Though Jharkhand Police had claimed to have taken extra precautions about the health condition of the candidates at each of the centers, they failed to check candidates falling ill while running as many of them fainted while running.
Leader of Opposition in Jharkhand Assembly, Amar Bauri has reiterated his demands once again, saying that the family of the deceased should be given an amount of Rs 50 lakh and the government should give a government job to one person of the family.
As the death toll reached 12, BJP has demanded Rs 50 lakh compensation and a job for the nearest kin to the family members of those who died during the excise constable recruitment drive in Jharkhand.
Assam Chief Minister and co-election in-charge of Jharkhand, Himanat Biswa Sarma also announced that BJP will give a compensation of Rs 1 lakh to the family members of each of the deceased candidates on their own by visiting them personally.
