Guwahati, Oct 27 (IANS): Mobile Internet services remained suspended in Assam on Sunday for the smooth, free and fair conduct of government recruitment examination. More than 13 lakh candidates are appearing in the exam, officials said here.

According to an official notification, mobile Internet services were suspended in the state from 8.30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The examination -- Assam Direct Recruitment Examinations (ADRE) -- is being conducted in two shifts -- the morning shift was from 9 a.m. till noon, and the evening shift is between 1.30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, the voice calls and broadband services were kept active, the official said.

“The written examination is being taken across 28 districts in the state for the recruitment in Grade IV posts in various government departments. More than 13,79,000 candidates applied to appear in the examination which is being conducted in two shifts,” the official added.

A senior official said that the state administration wanted the written examination to be conducted in a free, fair and transparent manner to select the best candidates purely on merit. He added that suspension of the services was necessary so that no malpractices took place during the examination.

He stated, “It has been observed on earlier such occasions that some unscrupulous elements resorted to unfair means using different Mobile Applications such as Facebook, WhatsApp, X, Youtube and Cam-scanner, etc., which are based on Internet/Wi-Fi/ Mobile Data Connectivity and the state government does not want any loopholes in the examination process which might have the potential to create doubt or mistrust in the public mind on the fairness of the recruitment process.”

Earlier in September also, the mobile Internet was suspended in the state for the recruitment examination of Grade III posts in the government departments. More than 7 lakh aspirants took part in that examination at 822 test centres across the state. An official statement mentioned, “A whopping 7,34,080 candidates have applied for appearing in the recruitment examinations to be conducted in two shifts; the first shift for Bachelor's Degree level Class-III posts from 9 a.m. to 12 noon and the second shift for HSLC (Driver) posts from 1.30 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. in 822 examination centres spread across the state of Assam on that day, including certain centres which have a history of cheating and other malpractices.”