Shocking: Bihar candidates asked to appear for Army recruitment exam in underwear

In a shocking incident, candidates writing the army recruitment examination in Bihar's Muzaffarpur District, were asked to do so in their underwear, to prevent any cheating.

According to a report in The Indian Express, over 1,150 candidates aspiring to join the Army were dressed only in their underwear, sitting on an open ground in Muzaffarpur on Sunday. These included candidates hoping to make it as soldiers on general duty, clerical and technical roles. 

The candidates, which included around 775 candidates appearing for the general duty category, 211 candidates in clerical and 173 candidates in technical category, were not even provided with a desk to write the hour-long exam.

A candidate appearing for the exam told the daily that when they entered Chakkar Maidan, they were asked to remove all clothes except underwear. "We had no option but to comply with the instructions even though it felt odd," he said.

An army officer told the daily that while candidates are asked to remove their clothes during physical tests and medical exams, the written exam is a test of the mental faculty. "Making candidates appear for this in their underwear amounts to an administrative lapse,” he said.

Last year, nearly 300 persons were arrested in anti-cheating operations across Bihar, even as Chief Minister Nitish Kumar admitted that reports of rampant use of unfair means in matriculation examinations had sullied the image of the state. Visuals of people climbing three to four storeyed buildings to provide chits to those writing exams had made headlines.