2.5 million candidates appear from 6,000 Bengal govt jobs

KOLKATA: Around 2.5 million job aspirants on Saturday appeared in a competitive written examination for 6,000 Group D posts of the West Bengal government amid high security.

The examinees, who appeared in centres across the state, included 5.5 lakhs from neighbouring states like Bihar and Jharkhand. Many of the candidates reached Howrah, Sealdah and other important railway stations a day ahead of the examination, being conducted by the West Bengal Group D Recruitment Board.

The state government examination for recruitment of group D employees is being held after a long gap.

The last recruitment was done during the erstwhile Left Front regime.

The incumbent Mamata Banerjee government did not hold any examination for Group D posts despite being in power since 2011. The state Transport Department deployed its full strength of bus fleet and ferry services, besides arranging for luxury cabs so as to enable candidates reach their respective examination venues without hassles. The Indian Railways also ensured timely running of trains on Saturday.

Traffic police and home guards as also civic volunteers were deployed in busy intersections in full strength to guide the examinees to the centres and prevent any traffic congestion.

Police personnel were present in and around examination centres in good numbers.

Three examinees from Bihar were injured, one of them seriously, when their vehicle was hit by a lorry at Jadupur in Malda district.