By Our Reporter
Shillong, Dec 6: A delegation of Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) met NEIGRIHMS Director Dr Nalin Mehta on Wednesday and expressed concern that a large majority of local candidates, who applied for jobs in various Group B and Group C vacant posts in the institute, have been asked to take the test in centres outside the state.
The delegation, led by KSU general secretary Donald V Thabah, also submitted a petition to the NEIGRIHMS in this regard. Barring one centre in Meghalaya, all the other centres are outside the state.
After meeting Dr Mehta, Thabah told reporters that it will be difficult for those candidates coming from poor financial background to go to other states to appear for the examination.
“During our conversation with the director, we were informed that NEIGRIHMS has entrusted an agency from outside the state to conduct the examination,” Thabah said.
He said the decision to set up the centres outside was taken as Meghalaya does not have sufficient computer training institutes.
He said they tried to explain to Dr Mehta that there are many such computer training centres in Shillong but the director argued that NEIGRIHMS has no role in identifying these centres since it has outsourced the test to the private agency.
Thabah said after a detailed deliberation, the director finally agreed that NEIGRIHMS will carry out a checklist of the computer centres located in Shillong and other parts of the state.
He said the director also stated that they might try to explore if some kind of agreement can be reached with these centres for the conduct of the test in the state.
Stating that it will be difficult to make any adjustment now considering that the exam has been scheduled for December 9, Thabah said they insisted before the NEIGRIHMS director that the institute should prioritise conducting such tests for recruitment in the state.
In the petition submitted to the NEIGRIHMS director, the KSU said there is a strong sense of bitter feeling among the local candidates that they were “intentionally and deliberately” allotted centres in other states to deprive them of the opportunity and give the jobs to non-local candidates.
Thabah said the KSU found it “bogus and phony” that the candidates from Meghalaya, appearing for jobs that are in the state, have been asked to take the test in other states. He said this is not the first time that this has happened and the Union cannot allow it to happen again.
“We appeal to the appropriate authorities to understand that most of the candidates from the state come from an economical weaker section of the society and it’s not possible for them to travel to other states…” the KSU general secretary said.
Moreover, he said the admit cards were issued late and the candidates hardly got any time. Even for those, who can afford travel and lodging expenses, it will be a herculean task to manage everything in such a short time, he added.
“Secondly, there are candidate(s) who have applied for multiple post(s) in Grade B and Group C and all the examinations for all the posts are on the same date and time and this again devoid(deprives) them of the opportunity. Since, they have applied and paid the examination fees, they are ought to be given an opportunity…” Thabah said.
He said the NEIGRIHMS should conduct its own examination instead of outsourcing it to others as there is always room for discrepancies and such things are always common with companies from other states as they would not understand the opinions and views of the people of the state.
“We would also like to humbly urge that preferences should be given to the local indigenous tribal of Meghalaya for any post(s) if the candidate is eligible for such post and the appropriate authorities should side more towards the locals in the unreserved categories,” Thabah added.
It may be noted that there are four examination centres in all — New Delhi (capacity of 200 candidates), Guwahati (200 candidates), Jorhat (200 candidates) and Shillong (170 candidates).