The Assam government on Sunday shut down mobile internet services in parts of the state for over eight hours as a part of their measures to conduct a "free and fair" recruitment drive.
Mobile internet services were shut from 9 am on Sunday, the first day of the test conducted for recruitment of grade III and grade IV staff in various departments of the state government. Nearly 14 lakh applicants appeared for the recruitment tests that took place at various centres.
The service was restored at around 5:30pm.
The state police also imposed Section 144 of CrPC in and around examination centres and prohibited mobile phones (even in switch off mode) to conduct the examination in a "free, fair and transparent" manner.
The step, however, caused much inconvenience to general public. "The internet shutdown for conducting a mere examination is such a harassment to the public. This is where the idea of good governance totally fails," Sujata Gautam, a civil service aspirant in Guwahati, posted on Facebook, hinting that she faced a lot of difficulty in her studies.
Although the government called it a "safety measure to check unfair means," opposition parties said that such a strong measure suggested the BJP-led state government's failure to conduct an examination without causing inconvenience to others. In a letter to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Congress' Lok Sabha member from Nagaon constituency, Pardyut Bordoloi told that the Telegraph Act 1985 and the Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services Rules 2017 empowers the government to suspend internet on the occurrence of a public emergency or in the interest of public safety only.
Similar recruitment tests would be conducted on August 28 and September 11.