How COVID-19 Pandemic, Lockdown Affected Recruitment Process

In March, after the government announced complete lockdown in the country, as a safety measure against the spread of coronavirus, recruitment agencies like UPSC, SSC, and other state level organisations, had to postpone all the ongoing and upcoming exams.

However, this lapse in the recruitment process didn't last long.

The agencies soon made changes in the existing practice and streamlined the job exams as per the need of the situation-- following social distancing and hygienic rules at exam centres. Lakhs of candidates register for a single exam in the country and exams are held in multiple shifts to accommodate all of them in the available exam centres.

Extending, Re-Extending Registration Deadline

The first step that every agency follows in a recruitment is notifying about the job and receiving application forms from the candidates. Usually, the application forms are released online on the websites and the form submission window is kept open for a month. However, during lockdown, many recruitment agencies kept this facility open for months. This helped candidates from rural and remote areas who have limited access to internet connection and also those candidates who depend on cyber cafes for filling application forms benefitted from this.

In many job exams, candidates are allowed to give preferences in the city in which they wish to take the exam. The exam centres are decided on the basis of the preferences given by the candidates first and then on the capacity of exam centres in those cities. After lockdown many candidates had shifted to a different place and due to limited transportation facility they were unable to return. In view of this, recruitment agencies reopened the facility to change exam city choice and gave sufficient time to candidates to reset their preferences. For instance, the UPSC allowed around 10 lakh candidates to change the exam centre choice for Civil Services exam. The bank exam agency, IBPS, said that almost every candidate was allotted their preferred exam centre.

Running Special Trains For Exams

The decision to hold job exams was taken after the first unlock rules came in May. To facilitate easy and safe movement of candidates the Indian Railways stepped in. Special trains were run for candidates. For instance, during the NDA exam special trains were run in every zone to help candidates appear for exams. "Under the leadership of PM NarendraModi Ji, Railways is leaving no stone unturned in assisting students," Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had tweeted.

Social Distance, Crowd Management At Exam Centres

In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, few changes were made to the existing rules at exam centres. In order to stop overcrowding and maintain social distance, the practice of putting roll number boards at the main gate of the exam centre has been stopped. Usually, at the exam centre, the roll number and the seat number of the candidates are mapped on white or blackboards. This has been stopped. Now, candidates are being informed about their seating details before entering the exam hall. Apart from this, to ensure zero contact at exam centres, attendance is being taken through photo capture.

Exam Centres Increased, Number Of Candidates Per Shift Decreased

To maintain social distancing among candidates, another important step that recruitment agencies took is to increase the number of exam centres and decrease the number of candidates in a centre in a shift. Usually, recruitment tests are held in multiple shifts considering the number of exam centres available and the duration within which the recruitment needs to be completed. In the wake of COVID-19 pandemic and the health safety rules that were made compulsory to follow, new centres were added and candidates were instructed to follow it strictly.