Dispur to open e-mail, WhatsApp page to receive complaints

P&RD Recruitment Irregularities

GUWAHATI, May 22: Rattled by widespread protests against rampant irregularities that took place during the examinations conducted by the Panchayat & Rural Development (P&RD) department on Sunday for the recruitment to various posts, Dispur is planning to open an e-mail account and a WhatsApp group to receive complaints, grievances and proofs about irregularities from aggrieved candidates.

Sources said the government will try to address the genuine complaints and grievances of candidates so that no undeserving candidate passes the exam and get a job in P&RD department. The department is in a tight spot after rampant irregularities were reported in the examination conducted on Sunday for the recruitment to 945 posts.

The crux of the problem lied in the fact that the question papers for the examinations, according to sources, were not sealed. “Normally, it is the candidates who should open the seal of the question papers. But in yesterday’s examination, the question papers were open, making them vulnerable to leaks,” the sources said. While there were reports of shortage of question papers in some centres, the paper was also leaked in Whatsapp at some other places.

Even though P&RD Minister Naba Kumar Doley has already said there will not any re-examination, candidates continued their protests for the second consecutive day on Tuesday demanding re-examination. A large number of aggrieved candidates gheraoed the office of P&RD department at Panjabari here on Tuesday morning and staged a protest demonstration demanding re-examination.

P&RD commissioner JB Ekka said he has heard that Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has ordered an inquiry by the former to probe the alleged irregularities in the Sunday’s exams. “Once I receive the formal communiqué about the inquiry, the e-mail account and WhatsApp group will be made public,” he said.

When contacted to get his response on unsealed question papers, Ekka told this reporter that he has received complaints about such lapse and will verify the same.