Hello, Warriors. Dress codes are one thing, but what happened during an Army recruitment exam in Bihar is beyond bizarre. Aspirants appearing in army recruitment examination in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur District were asked to sit in underwear to prevent cheating. Their dress code was, yes, NO DRESS!
According to a report in The Indian Express, over 1,150 candidates aspiring to join the Army were dressed only in their underwear, sitting on an open ground in Muzaffarpur on Sunday.
The examination was being conducted for the recruitment of soldiers in the army. These included candidates hoping to make it as soldiers on general duty, clerical and technical roles.
The 1,150 hopefuls were asked to sit in an open ground with no clothes on, with their dignity tattered, to ‘save time on frisking’.
The aspirants, which included around 775 candidates appearing for the general duty category, 211 candidates in clerical and 173 candidates in technical category, were not even provided with a desk to write the hour-long exam.
In a state notorious for cheating – blatant and often aided by examiners and parents – the army officials decided that it was the best way to eliminate the possibility of scraps of paper hidden in clothes.
Defending the outrageous move, Army Regional office director Colonel VS Godhara said: “I am entitled to all precautions necessary. In the past year, there have been two instances of candidates hiding cheating slips and mobile phones in their vests and undergarments.”
The candidates finally sat cross-legged on the ground in their briefs and used their thighs as tables for the one-hour test. Some complained they were cold and uncomfortable, but they had no choice.
A candidate, who did not wish to be named, told The Indian Express, “As we entered Chakkar Maidan, the venue, we were asked to remove all clothes except underwear. We had no option but to comply with the instructions even though it felt odd. The gap between candidates was about eight feet in all directions.”
The report said that local residents pointed out that this was the second time that the Army recruitment test was being conducted in this manner.
Last year, images of mass cheating involving Class 10 students made international headlines. Parents, relatives and others were seen scaling the walls of the exam centre to pass scraps of papers to students, unrestricted.
In January, ahead of the board exams, Bihar announced a Rs. 20,000 fine for students caught cheating and jail for relatives caught helping them. The state has also ordered CCTV cameras in classrooms, and a live stream of some exam centres.
The Patna High Court has taken notice of these pictures and filed a suo moto Public Interest Litigation (PIL). The court will be hearing the case today.
Do you think this is the right way to curb cheatings in examinations in a state like Bihar?
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