Internet services in Assam suspended for 8 hours today due to government Grade III recruitment exam

GUWAHATI: For the second time in September, mobile internet services in Assam will be disabled for eight hours on Sunday to prevent malpractices during the written examination for a recruitment test to Grade III posts. The suspension of mobile internet/ mobile data/ mobile wi-fi connectivity will be in place from 8.30 am to 4.30 pm, an official release said on Saturday.
“All are requested to bear with the inconvenience in the interest of holding a free, fair and transparent recruitment examination and thereby securing the future of the youths of the state,” the release, issued by the secretary, State Level Recruitment Commission (SLRC) for Class-III Posts, said.
Mobile internet services were suspended for three-and-a-half hours on September 15 when the first phase of the written examination for Grade III posts was conducted.
The written tests of the Assam Direct Recruitment Examination (ADRE) for Grade III posts of bachelor degree level and HSLC level will be held in two halves on Sunday.
The first half is from 9 am to 12 noon, and the second from 1.30 pm to 4.30 pm.
A total of 7,34,080 candidates are eligible to appear for the examinations to be conducted across the state.
The release said that though elaborate arrangements have been made for holding the examination transparently, it has been observed in Assam as well as in other states that unscrupulous elements indulged in unfair means using various mobile applications.
“There exists a substantial apprehension that anti-social elements or organised groups may try to take advantage of the situation by resorting to rumour-mongering through social media and may try to destabilise the process of examination,” it said.
Some may even try to sell fake question papers using social media, the release claimed.
The decision to disable mobile internet services has been taken to ensure that there remained “no loopholes in the examination process which might have the potential to create doubt in the public mind on the fairness of the recruitment process”, the release added.
Meanwhile, all arrangements have been put in place to ensure smooth and transparent conduct of the examination, another official statement said.
Admit cards with instructions for the candidates have already been issued, while some additional/ revised guidelines have now been notified, the statement said.
Candidates have been asked to report at least one and a half hours before the commencement of the examination for thorough checking and frisking, for which a standard operating procedure (SOP) has been issued.
The SOP came following allegations of improper frisking during the first phase of the examination, with several women candidates claiming that female security personnel touched their private parts.
In case of improper frisking, the candidate should immediately report to the centre in-charge, the statement said.
For speedy frisking, candidates have been advised to wear half-sleeve attire and slippers instead of shoes.
A Northeast Frontier Railway release said that six pairs of examination special trains for the help of ADRE candidates are being run.
About 18.50 lakh candidates have applied for the various classes of Grade III posts, while about 13.70 lakh candidates have applied for different Grade IV posts, according to official sources.
Written tests of ADRE for Grade IV posts of two educational levels will be conducted on two other dates, they added.
The first ADRE under the State Level Recruitment Commission was conducted in the state in August 2022, when mobile internet services were suspended for four hours in nearly all the districts on the two days when the written tests were held.