The land of the rising Sun is now giving a ray of hope to lakhs of students aspiring to get a government job – that too within days of applying for it. In some cases the results of a written test or an interview has been declared within hours of holding the test.
In most of the states, government job selection is the fountainhead of corruption. Arunachal Pradesh has been no different.
Arunachal witnessed state-wide protests following allegation of corruption in Lower Division Clerks’ (LDC) appointment test in February 2029. This led to the exposure of a ‘cash for job’ scam. The state government ultimately had to cancel the examination. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigated into the whole issue and many heads rolled.
To prevent recurrence of such incidents, the state government reconstituted Staff Selection Commission and an IAS officer hailing from Bihar, Mr Santosh Kumar Rai, was given the task of formulate a quick and transparent appointment exam process for various vacancies in the government.
It was a mammoth task indeed. Mr Rai told Indian Masterminds, “It took me six months to understand the whole system and plug the loopholes. We designed standards operating procedure (SOP) for every little step. We found that any delay in declaration of results of exam, had the potential to breed corruption. That’s why we decided to hasten up the process as much as possible.”
THE CHANGES
After taking over the Secretary’s position, Mr Rai had conducted right examinations and all results have been declared very fast. “Some of the results were declared within 9 to 14 hours of holding written examinations. Maximum time taken was 48 hours,” he claimed.
The latest in this series was Combined Higher Secondary level test, taken by 40,000 students. The advertisement for this test was given in Hunt 2021 and the written test was organised in October 3 this year across 12 districts of Arunachal Pradesh, spread sparingly having a difficult terrain. It takes days to transport test material and answer sheets, from a district to the state headquarter. “Despite the odds, we declared the results in three days,” says Mr Rai.
The computer skill test for 500-odd candidates for the same post was held across three days on November 19, 20 and 21. The final result was declared the very next day i.e. November 22.
Even LDC-2021 exam meet the same fate. The exam was held on March 21 again across all 12 districts of Arunachal Pradesh. It took them 24 hours to transport all answer sheets to the evaluation centre and the result was declared on March 24. “We worked non-stop for 36 hours and took a break only after winding up the whole process,” says Me Rai.
SAME DAY RESULT
The Staff Selection Commission also organised an Typing Skill Test on Match 29th. The results were announced the same evening. It was sort of a record.
“Earlier, it used up take several months, if not years, for the government to declare the results of graduate-level exam in Arunachal Pradesh. But we have managed to not only conduct the exam but also declare the results within a record 100 days.”
SETTING AN EXAMPLE
Arunachal Pradesh staff selection board has actually set an example before other state boards also. It has proved that where there is a will there is a way. There can’t be any complacency in processes where youth’s future is involved.
Arunachal board has not only worked efficiently but with complete transparency as well. The board has been giving model answer sheet, cut off marks, personal scorecard and Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheet to reach and every candidate, ensuring 100 per cent transparency.
Tests Conducted By Arunachal Board Under Mr Rai
- TRIHMS Exam – Results Declared in 14 days
- Tests conducted for appointments in information and public relations department (IPR) – Result in 9 hours
- LDC exam – results in eight days
- Junior Estimator test – results in 24 hours
- Combined graduate level exam – Result in 100 days
- Combined Higher Secondary Level Test – Results in six months
