Unseasonal rains affect police recruitment drive
Some of the candidates chose to forego the tests on Thursday as they felt unwell after getting wet as they slept on the open grounds.
Mumbai: The unseasonal showers in the early hours of Thursday have affected the month-long police recruitment drive. The venue of the physical tests, scheduled to be held on Saturday and Sunday, in the Mumbai University grounds, Kalina, has been shifted to Marol.
Some of the candidates chose to forego the tests on Thursday as they felt unwell after getting wet as they slept on the open grounds.
The general secretary of the youth wing of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), Akhil Chitre, witnessed the entire episode. He helped the candidates a few days back after some of them approached the party about the lack of arrangements for them on the university grounds. He notified the state and city police authorities and also approached the municipal authorities to take pest control measures like fumigation.
“The condition of the candidates was so bad that they were literally sleeping on the streets, or even under bridges. We distributed mosquito repellent creams as means of immediate relief,” said Chitre. He also wrote a letter to chief minister Eknath Shinde.
Each candidate has to pay ₹450 in the open category and ₹350 in the reserved category for registering for the test, he added.
{{/usCountry}}Each candidate has to pay ₹450 in the open category and ₹350 in the reserved category for registering for the test, he added.
{{/usCountry}}“Considering that there are more than 9 lakh aspirants who have applied for 7,500 posts, the registration fees should have been sufficient to provide necessary arrangements for the aspirants,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“Considering that there are more than 9 lakh aspirants who have applied for 7,500 posts, the registration fees should have been sufficient to provide necessary arrangements for the aspirants,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}One of the affected candidates, on the condition of anonymity, spoke to HT while on his way back to his hometown. “I came down with a bad case of allergies due to the mosquito bites. I was already feeling weak and staying up for a long time at night made me feel even worse,” he said, adding that he was not in the right state to participate in the physical test.
{{/usCountry}}One of the affected candidates, on the condition of anonymity, spoke to HT while on his way back to his hometown. “I came down with a bad case of allergies due to the mosquito bites. I was already feeling weak and staying up for a long time at night made me feel even worse,” he said, adding that he was not in the right state to participate in the physical test.
{{/usCountry}}He also said several other people also could not sleep through the night and therefore weren’t in the best of shape to take the physical endurance test.
Tejaswi Satpute, DCP headquarters (II), said that the arrangements made by the police department were keeping in mind the summer season. “None of the candidates have approached us about being unwell. If that happens, they can request for the test to be rescheduled. Every day 14,000 people are appearing for the tests at the two venues in Marol and Kalina,” she said.
When the 100-day recruitment drive started, all of them were called at the same time in the morning. Afterwards, they started calling 1,000 each at 5am and 6am and 2,500 candidates at 9am and 10am. “This helps the ground be less crowded and gives all the candidates enough time to reach the spot. Even so, we have constructed pandals at both spots that can easily accommodate 3,500 candidates,” said Satpute.
Regarding the mosquito menace, she said that during the daytime when the actual drive is getting conducted, the mosquitos were not noticed. None of the candidates had spoken about this problem, she said, saying buying mosquito repellent creams for personal use can be done by the candidates themselves.
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