Candidates from rural areas at disadvantage, turn up late for tests.
The web-based information dissemination system, used for the first time across the state for the ongoing police recruitment drive, has not gone down well with candidates from rural areas in Pune, who claim they are not able to use it properly.
The recruitment started on November 9 across the state. In the last four days, most of the candidates from rural areas have complained about their inability to check the updates online.
About 42,000 candidates have applied for 880 posts of constables in the city, and most of them are from rural parts of the state.
The state home department has directed all commissionerates and rural headquarters to regularly update information — such as dates of tests and physical examination — on their websites.
A senior police officer attached to the city police told DNA, “This year, the recruitment is biased towards those from the urban areas as the entire information is on the website. The rural applicants are not getting information on time, as they cannot access the information in their villages. As a result, they come late for the tests,” he said.
An applicant, Ganesh Bhadale (name changed), who had come for the recruitment on Saturday, turned up late in the evening and was desperate for help as he had come all the way from Latur.
Another applicant, from Akurdi, claimed he did not get the SMS and thus failed to turn up for his physical examination on time.
The officer said, “We can’t help in such cases, as the list of applicants comes from the state government. Anyone who is absent on the designated date will not be allowed a second chance.”
To make the recruitment process candidate-friendly, the Pune police had for the first time used SMS service to inform applicants about procedural details and guidelines.
Every day, about 1,400 applicants out of 2,000 come for the recruitment test.
The officer said, “Out of the 1,400 applicants, most belong to the rural areas. Most of the applicants are under-graduate students this year.”
Commissioner of police, Meeran Chadha Borwankar, told DNA, “I do not agree. It is a fair process with no bias. If they could fill forms online, it means they have access to the Internet. We also set up kiosks to help them take printouts. SMS is not the only mode made available to them.”
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