Guwahati, August 18: A day after resumption of the agitation against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) by the North East Students’ Union (NESO), Assam Cabinet minister Pijush Hazarika on Thursday urged the civil society to steer clear of any possible “disinformation campaign on CAA,” and create an ambience for smooth conduct of the forthcoming direct recruitment drive in the state.
In a major recruitment drive by the Assam government, examinations to fill up nearly 30,000 Grade III and Grade IV posts in various government departments are scheduled to be held across 25 districts on August 21, 28 and September 11, 2022.
As many as 14, 30,337 candidates are expected to appear in the examinations.
Addressing mediapersons at Dispur, Hazarika urged people not to hold back the recruitment process and development in the state by “spreading fake news in regard to CAA.”
“I urge people not to hold over 14 lakh job aspirants hostage by spreading fake news in the name of an agitation. There is a marked difference between unscrupulous elements/miscreants in the guise of protesters who had destroyed property in the city in December 2019, and people who genuinely stage a democratic agitation,” he said.
“There might be differences in opinions and viewpoints, which is fine. Everyone has the right to have opinions. However, attempts to create hurdles in development, in this case a direct recruitment process, is uncalled for,” Hazarika said.
Recalling the agitation against Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) in December 2019, the minister alleged that “disinformation was spread then (in 2019) that 2.5 crore Hindu Bangladeshis would enter Assam on the day the Bill was passed as an Act.”
“There were false rumours circulating that these people will travel to Upper Assam on trucks to encroach on land, roads and take over property. But nothing like that happened on that day (when the Bill became an Act) or thereafter,” he said.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had on Wednesday asked deputy commissioners to scrupulously adhere to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for maintaining a foolproof mechanism for recruiting eligible youth transparently in various government posts.
Chairing a virtual meeting, the chief minister directed the DCs to ensure smooth conduct of the examinations during the three days.
IANS
