Guwahati, Sep 14 (PTI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said any decision on suspension of internet connection during a state government recruitment examination on September 15 would be taken by the chief secretary.
He said a standard protocol was being formulated through which internet signal from mobile towers covering examination centres could be locked during the tests.
“The chief secretary has to decide whether there is a need to cut the internet services or not. If it is needed, he will give the order accordingly,” Sarma told reporters on the sidelines of a programme here.
He was responding to a question on whether internet services would be suspended during the recruitment examination for government’s Grade III posts on Sunday across Assam.
Mobile internet services were suspended for four hours in nearly all the districts on two days when written examinations for Grade III and IV posts under the State Level Recruitment Commission (SLRC) were conducted in August 2022.
The chief minister said the government was working on a protocol to regulate internet services in the examination centres in the future.
“For examinations in the future, I have asked our officials to formulate a protocol for locking internet services from mobile towers which cover the examination centres. It will take some time to happen,” Sarma added.
Over 11.23 lakh candidates are expected to appear for written examinations for HSSLC-level Grade III posts in 2,305 centres across 28 districts on Sunday.
The Northeast Frontier Railway will run 12 sets of special trains, which will undertake 28 trips to facilitate the candidates.
The NFR also extends destinations of four regular trains which will undertake eight trips.
Written tests for bachelor's degree-level posts and HSLC-level (drivers) posts of Grade III will be conducted on two dates.
Examinations for Grade IV posts of two different educational levels will be conducted on two other dates.
About 18.50 lakh candidates have applied for the various classes of Grade III posts and 13.70 lakh for the different Grade IV posts, official sources said.