It was the first of times, it was the worst of times; but mostly, worst.

No Internet to Entertain

It was the morning of August 5, 2018; a Sunday morning when approximately 6 lac candidates were flocking to different parts of Rajasthan, looking for their centres, without a Google Map, or a cab. Not surprisingly enough, most of these candidates were not localites. They had absolutely no clue about the districts to which their centre belonged. Thanks to the 6 AM surprise of Rajasthan state suspending the internet connection, candidates were mostly stranded.

Exam Conducting authority’s punctuality and the frisking that followed

Like flock of sheep, students meandered to different parts of the state, early in the morning. Candidates had been told to report at 8 AM to their respective exam centres. However, across many centres, it was only after 9.15 AM that the process of security check actually started taking place.

Apparently, police personnel at my centre were instructed to lift our shirts and look for other unfair means that may have been strapped to our chests.

Uncomfortable as it was, I finally gathered the nerve to ask the two wonderful guys (policemen) at the security check if there was any scope of privacy when it came to lifting my shirt and scanning my chest. Baffled with the question, he pretended to ignore what I had just spoken and continued lifting my shirt. Upon a second nudge, he reminded me that he was doing his job, as he was instructed to, and that I should do mine. Being the inquisitive chap I am, I asked the same question a third time, only to be told to shoo away.

A little taken aback, this incidence had me believe that men are probably not entitled to any dignity when it comes to their bodies. It’s almost as if men should be okay with their nudity and anyone has the right to go about feeling our bodies up, and that we should be okay with it. It becomes all the more shocking when this is something that men in uniform have been instructed to do; because it clearly reflects the dismissive and uninterested nature of the State in making provisions to ensure the dignity of a male candidate.

It wasn’t just the men who had to bore the brunt

Upon further observation, it hit me that the State was completely uninterested in ensuring anyone’s dignity, irrespective of their gender. At my centre, the preliminary checks for women candidates had no female police officer. A friend at another centre, barely 6 kilometres from mine told me how a girl at her examination centre was asked to cut off the buttons in her suit because they could be possible ways to cheat.

“But I am from another city, where should I keep my phone?”

“Not our responsibility!”

Later, analysing the school premises, I found out that no arrangements had been made to keep bags and helmets of students. When I asked the guard about it, a policeman interrupted to tell me that it wasn’t their responsibility. So basically, the commission expected people to show up without their mobiles, or wallets, or bags, or helmets, in a State which had no internet access to start with; even the non-locals.

Some people had to go through even more trouble

Another anomaly that made me sit up and think was the lack of provisions which were made for candidates with special needs. Visually impaired candidates were asked to report two working days ahead of the examination, when the admit cards were released exactly four working days ahead of the exam.