Mobile internet to be suspended in Assam on Sunday for exam in govt depts

Mobile internet services in several districts of Assam will be suspended for four hours for the second time this month on Sunday for conducting free and fair written examination for grade III posts of various government departments.

Prohibitory orders under section 144 of CrPC have also been clamped near the examination centres to further strengthen security measures.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday reviewed the preparations.

Mobile internet services had been suspended on August 21 in 25 districts of the state when the written examination for grade IV posts was held in two shifts of two hours each to ensure that candidates do not indulge in cheating through electronic devices.

The final phase of this recruitment drive will be held for a limited number of posts of grade IV on September 11 and no suspension of mobile internet service on that day has been announced so far.

A writ petition was filed in Gauhati High Court against suspension of the mobile internet service for the examinations. The court had on Friday refused to stay the government order.

Section 144 of CrPC have been clamped near the examination centres on all examinations days.

According to an official order, gathering of people within a radius of 100 metre of each examination centre other than candidates, scribes and officials engaged for conduct and monitoring has been prohibited.

Sarma chaired a meeting of senior government officials via video conferencing to take stock of the preparations. He instructed them to ensure that nobody resorted to unfair means during the examination, an official release said.

He asked the concerned officials to take measures necessary to ensure Sunday's examination is completed in the seamless manner as that for the grade IV positions test last week.

The chief minister instructed the officials to ensure that traffic in their respective districts are under control and do not cause any difficulty to the candidates in reaching their examination centres on time.

Director general of police Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta, principal secretary (home and political) Niraj Verma and other officials apprised him of the steps taken to ensure smooth conduct of the examination.

Sarma said that if vacant positions in the government are filled up with people chosen entirely on merit, it would lead to an environment of efficiency in the government machinery. In the long run it will prove crucial in transforming Assam into one of the most developed and progressive states in the country, he added.

More than 14.30 lakh candidates are expected to appear for nearly 30,000 Grade-III and IV posts scheduled for the three dates. All examinations are being conducted by the Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA).

Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC have also been imposed within a radius of 100 metre of the SEBA office in Guwahati till receiving, depositing and scrutinising of the answer scripts are over, Guwahati Police said in a separate order.