Express News Service
JAIPUR: Conducting the much-awaited Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teachers (REET), slated for Sunday, has become a huge headache for the Gehlot government in Rajasthan.
Over 16 lakh candidates will appear for this exam to fill up 31,000 posts of teachers in government schools across the state. This crucial exam was postponed five times in the past and organising it successfully has become a logistical and administrative challenge for the government. Over 5,500 home guards and 50 companies of RAC, MBC, SDRF and other armed forces have been deployed to ensure that unlike in the past the exam is conducted without any malpractice.
The REET test will see a total of 16 lakh and 22 thousand candidates appearing at 3,993 examination centres. In Jaipur alone, around 2.5 lakh aspirants will take the examination at 592 centres. Around 10,000 policemen will be deployed in the Pink City and surveillance will be done through drone cameras. At each centre, a team of 6 policemen will be on duty and a special vigilance team of 100 police officials will also be on alert. To avoid overcrowding, five temporary bus stands have been set up in Jaipur.
All candidates will be given face masks at their respective centres. The Jaipur district administration also plans to provide free travel in Metro train for the convenience of the REET aspirants. Of the total number of 2.50 lakh candidates appearing for the exam in Jaipur, over 1.33 lakh will come from other districts of the state.
In addition, the Rajasthan government has declared REET duty as an essential service for all employees in order to conduct this examination without any disturbance. To facilitate easy movement of candidates, the state government has allowed free travel in roadways as well as private buses for students appearing in REET. The Railways will also run 13 special trains to ferry REET applicants. Free food will be provided in 350 Indira Rasoi in all 33 districts for candidates appearing for exams. The government has appealed to over 250 social organisations to arrange free accommodation for candidates coming from other cities to appear in the exams.
With cheating in exams is a big threat, the Gehlot government has said that it would take strict action against any person found using or facilitating unfair means during the REET exams. Not just that, the government has said that if any employee is found facilitating cheating or leaking the paper, s/he will be terminated from service.
In a tweet, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot has said: “Report of any illegal activity in relation to the paper to the police, strict action will be taken against those conspiring in context of REET and spreading rumors about paper leak during the exam.”
In Bhilwara district, Internet services have already been snapped for 12 hours on September 26. District collectors all across the state have been empowered to shut down internet services as and when they deem fit to prevent any possibility of cheating through net-linked services.
Traffic police have launched a mobile initiative to help candidates to locate their centres. In all 33 districts, candidates will be given free food at Indira Rasoi centres and arrangements have also been made to provide free staying facilities for the over 16 lakh candidates who will appear on Sunday. But despite all the efforts, the successful conduct of the REET exam remains a tough challenge for the Gehlot government which has collected over 100 crores as fees from REET candidates.