Reacting on the reports that defence aspirants have been asked to write exams in only underwear at Muzaffarpur in Bihar which gone viral on social media, the Defence Ministry seeks explanation from the Army Chief Dalbir Singh Suhaag on this stripping. The defence ministry has also been asked for an explanation by the Patna High Court.
On Sunday, candidates writing the army recruitment examination in were asked to do so in their underwear, to prevent any cheating.
Over 1,150 candidates aspiring to join the Army, force to write exam sitting on an open ground in underwear. These included candidates hoping to make it as soldiers on general duty, clerical and technical roles.
The candidates, which included around 775 candidates appearing for the general duty category, 211 candidates in clerical and 173 candidates in technical category, were not even provided with a desk to write the hour-long exam.
The army officers on duty had taken this step to save time on frisking the candidates.
However, candidates didn’t find it dignified and appeared hurt by Indian army’s decision to undress them for examination.
“As we entered Chakkar Maidan, the venue, we were asked to remove all clothes except underwear. We had no option but to comply with the instructions even though it felt odd. The gap between candidates was about eight feet in all directions.
“We do not expect to appear for such largescale examinations in halls, but telling us to remove our clothes was not dignified,” said one candidate.
Bihar is famous for its notorious activities employed to cheat in examinations. Last year, the mass cheating spree in the state caught attention of the international media. A picture of friends and family members, who had climbed up walls of the examination centres to pass notes to the examinees, went viral over social media.
