PORT BLAIR: Strongly opposing the allegations levelled in the local media on malpractices in the recruitment of LDCs in the Naval Component Unit, the Andaman and Nicobar Command claimed that the process has been fair and transparent. A total of 5807 call letters were forwarded by registered post to the eligible candidates, based on scrutiny by Board of Officers of the applications received till the last date. The candidates appearing for the written exam were divided into two groups and were allotted two schools (KV II and NCS) in two batches. The first batch of candidates was asked to report at 0700 h and the second batch to report at 1000 h on 30 Aug 15 for the written exam. The conduct of the written exam was undertaken by a separate Board of Officers.
On receipt of call letters, several candidates including those hailing from remote areas of Andaman & Nicobar Islands telephonically conveyed their inability to make two / three trips to Port Blair for the recruitment purpose. Similar requests were received from the candidates from Main land and North east states. Hence all efforts were made to complete the written exam, interview and the type test formalities in the minimum possible timeframe, without compromising on the procedures and even at the cost of personal inconvenience of the organizers and administrative constraints.
Accordingly, evaluation of the answer sheets was carried out on 31 Aug and 01 Sep 15 by a different Board of Officers, the results of which were published in the Daily Telegrams and the official govt. web site on 02 Sep 15. The interview was conducted from 0900h to 2000 h on 03 Sep and 04 Sep 15 at ANCOCEE. The interview was conducted by a Board of Officers, consisting of civilian gazetted officers from the minority community and OBCs out of which one was an islander.
The entire process was transparent and all assistance was rendered to the candidates. Even duplicate hall tickets were issued to at least five candidates, who had lost the original Hall Tickets. It may be noted that almost 36 call letters/ hall tickets were returned by the postal authorities due to incorrect addresses furnished by the applicants or locked houses.
At no stage the candidates possessing higher education qualification than the basic qualification required for the post have been disqualified. Seven applications were received from the Ex-Service men whose category was not specified (U/R, OBC, SC or ST). Six out of these qualified in the written test. However, their names were not published after the written exam results, as they had separate horizontal reservation in any category for three posts. Later, names of the three ex-servicemen candidates out of the six who were interviewed were (roll no. 14LDC 3790 (OBC), 141dc 2512 (ST) and 141dc 1699 (UR)) were published on 07 Sep 15 in the Daily Telegrams and the official govt. web site.
The allegation of favouring candidates of a particular region are misplaced as among the 45 successful candidates after written test and interview, 24 belong to Andaman and Nicobar islands and 21 are from the mainland. While it is natural that unsuccessful candidates will feel aggrieved, we assure the public that the selection process for recruitment is totally fair and transparent, conducted as per rules and regulations of the Central Government, said Col Yogesh Sharma, Command PRO in the release.
“YOU HAVE TO MAKE THE RULES, NOT FOLLOW THEM”.