Guwahati, Sep 27 : The administration in Assam is gearing up for another round of a massive government recruitment drive which is scheduled to take place on Sunday.

A senior government official told IANS on Friday, 'We have been taking all measures to keep the recruitment examination fair and transparent. The machinery has been put in place to maintain the sanctity of the examination with additional vigilance to foil any attempt of adopting illegal practices in the exercise.'

Notably, in a late-night meeting on Thursday, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took stock of the preparedness of the state administration for the recruitment drive.

Taking to his X handle, Sarma wrote, 'After wrapping up the day's programmes, I sat with officials to review last minute preparations for the ADRE Exam scheduled on September 29. My instruction is clear, like before, zero tolerance for malpractices & rumour-mongering. The future of lakhs of aspirants is sacrosanct.'

Senior officials of the state government including top police officials were present in the meeting along with some Cabinet ministers.

Authorities from the nodal agency of the government to hold the examination also attended the meeting with the Chief Minister.

It is expected that a large number of candidates will take part in the forthcoming examination.

To recall, the state government held a similar examination on September 15 where more than 11 lakh candidates appeared across 2,360 test centres across Assam.

However, a controversy erupted during the previous examination when a female aspirant complained that at the time of frisking, a lady Constable touched her private parts that prompted CM Sarma to order a probe into the whole incident.

He ordered the enquiry under the Director General of Police and the Chief Minister reiterated that he gives highest importance to the dignity and respect of women; this is a non-negotiable thing.

Taking to his X handle, he wrote, 'My instruction to the police on the Nalbari incident - I spoke with the DGP, Assam, @gpsinghips and instructed him to investigate the incident where a girl student has alleged that a lady Constable searched her private parts before she entered the examination hall. For me, the dignity and respect of our mothers and sisters are of utmost importance and non-negotiable.'

Meanwhile, the government recently said that now onwards women aspirants will be checked only after seeking their consent while entering the exam hall.

According to an official statement, 'The state administration is committed to make the government recruitment examination transparent. In the course of this, we have to foil any attempt of adopting illegal means by candidates. However, it is also important to maintain the dignity of women in every situation. From now onwards, the female candidates will be frisked only after taking consent of the individual by security personnel.'

'If a woman aspirant does not give her consent for body-checking to the security personnel, then a separate sitting arrangement will be made for her for the examination,' the official said.

/IANS