Chandigarh, May 21 ( P2P): The clouds of trouble are again visible in the examination for 78 posts of Naib Tehsildar, which is looking after two years and the third government. Earlier this examination was to be held on March 20 but postponed to May 22 due to incomplete arrangements. PPSC (Punjab Public Service Commission) is going to conduct this exam for the Punjab government on Sunday, 22 May. The Treasury Department of Punjab could not release the full amount on the proposal of the expenditure sent a month ago for the conduct of the examination. As a result, 11 schools in Chandigarh and Patiala, including private schools, were not released funds for conducting the examination, due to which the said schools are reluctant to conduct the examination. PPSC is now urging the teachers of those centers (schools) to get this exam done once from their pocket.
PPSC is getting a chance to conduct the examination of large number of candidates for the first time. 76000 candidates will be participating in the examination of Naib Tehsildar. As a fee, the Punjab government had taken 3000 rupees from general candidates, 1750 rupees for physically handicapped, and 1125 rupees from Scheduled Castes, Tribes, and Backward Classes (only from Punjab). According to an estimate, the Punjab government had collected around Rs 15 crore as the fee for this examination. PPSC has asked the Punjab government to release the amount for conducting the examination, a month ago. But the full amount could not be released in time. However, funds have been released to 170 institutes for conducting the examination. But the amount was not released to 8 centers in Chandigarh and three centers in Patiala, for which PPSC is blaming the Treasury Department of Punjab.
For conducting the examination, the teachers (invigilators) are given remuneration, water bottles for the examinees, sanitizers, gloves, wall clocks, and other work including setting up tents for the frisking, which are usually released a week before the examination. But now this amount could not be released even a day before the examination. PPSC is now urging the schools to get the teachers to conduct the exam out of their pocket. If the examination of Naib Tehsildar is not conducted in a single-center, then the examination conducted at other centers will also be in vain and the amount which has been spent by issuing it will also go in vain.
On the other hand, the shadow of the financial crisis in Punjab has also started falling on the examination of Naib Tehsildar conducted by PPSC (Punjab Public Service Commission). The candidate appearing for the Naib Tehsildar exam will get to drink a small water bottle of only 200 ml in this scorching heat. In the measures taken because of Corona, the means have also been kept minimum and there has also been a shortage in sanitizers.
More than 6 thousand officers and employees have to be deployed to conduct the examination. For this, the examination centers have been set up in the cities of Punjab, Patiala, Sangrur, Sri Fatehgarh Sahib, Mohali and Chandigarh. Rs. 600 will be given to each teacher to be deputed for conducting the examination for duty of more than 5 hours. In this examination being held on Sunday, a holiday, many teachers have avoided this examination by telling less amount of remuneration. No matter the number of deployment of staff conducting the examination in each center, but there only seven gloves are to be given keeping in mind the corona. A budget of ₹ 500 has been given to sanitize the institution or school conducting the examination, while a block with few rooms alloted a single bottle of sanitizer. In each center, only one 200 ml water bottle is to be given to the examinees, as a budget of which PPCC has to pay six rupees for each bottle. That is, in such scorching heat, a candidate will be able to take a small water bottle only once, the second time the examinees will not get water. Because according to the number of candidates, the budget has been given to the schools by PPSC or it will be given after the examination. No arrangement was made from where the drinking water for the staff or the drinking water for the investigation teams of PPSC would come. The interesting thing is that even after the school holiday on Saturday, the PPSC is sending new instructions for the examination.
In this context, Madam Jasleen Kaur Sandhu, Secretary, PPSC, was contacted, she said that the staff conducting the examination is being given the amount as per the rules of the Punjab government. On the issue of drinking water, the Secretary said that there is no shortage of potable water, but schools cannot be given such a free hand that they should make high bills for drinking water.
