The State Government has postponed the recruitment process of excise constable for next three days after at least 12 candidates have died in the ongoing physical tests being carried out at different districts which began on August 22. Chief Minister Hemant Soren has said that untimely death of the participants during the race in the recruitment process of excise constable is sad and heartbreaking.
While directing immediate review of the rules made by the previous government, the state government has instructed to make changes in the rules for all future recruitments of this type, along with this, instructions have also been given to make a proposal to provide immediate relief from the government to the unfortunately affected and bereaved family in this process.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren tweeted, ‘As a precaution, we have instructed to postpone this recruitment process for the next 3 days. The race will now not be organized after 9 am in any case. There will be adequate arrangement of doctors for those candidates who feel the need for health test before the race and there will be arrangement of breakfast / fruits for the participants at all the competition venues so that no one participates in the race on an empty stomach.”
“After all, for what reasons are the relatively healthy / agile people of our village - society getting killed in the physical test going on since earlier, after all what such change has come in the health of the general public in the country including Jharkhand in the last 3-4 years? To review the reasons for the untimely death of these youth, so that such accidents do not happen in future, we have also formed a committee of health experts and directed them to give a consultation report,” Hemant tweeted.
Meanwhile, the state leadership of BJP will meet the families of the deceased. The party will also give a financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh.
The Jharkhand police are investigating the death of many youths during the excise constable recruitment which began on August 22. They are yet to officially confirm any cause for these deaths. However, unconfirmed reports say that the conduct of the recruitment race under scorching heat and other reasons might have led to cardiac arrests leading to the death of these youths.
According to doctors, the candidates' lack of preparedness for the demanding physical exam and the humid weather could have contributed to the deaths. Additionally, it was thought that a few of the candidates were using steroids, which negatively impacted their health.
The Jharkhand Jaguar campus in Ranchi, the Police Line in Giridih, the Jharkhand Armed Police Training Centre in Hazaribag, the Chiyanki aerodrome in Palamu, the CTC Musabani in East Singhbhum, and the Jharkhand Armed Police-9 campus in Sahibganj are the seven locations where a notable recruitment drive for 583 excise constables is being held. A total of 74,400 candidates are allocated to each of the seven locations.
Unfortunately, four candidates died in Palamu, two deaths each were recorded in Giridih and Hazaribag, and one candidate died at each of Jharkhand Jaguar, CTC Musabani, and Sahibganj centers," police spokesperson and IG (operations), Amol Homkar, said on Sunday, providing details about the deaths. In relation to the occurrence, we have recorded incidents of unexplained deaths and are investigating the causes. We'll take additional legal action as appropriate."
Physical examinations will be conducted at each center by a board supervised by an IPS officer during the drive, which is set to run till September 4.
