NSUI questions process of forest guard exam

Expressing disappointment with the recent forest guard recruitment examination conducted by the forest, environment and climate change (FE&CC) department, the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) Nagaland state unit, the student wing of the Indian National Congress (INC), said that the manner in which the examination was conducted was “highly unprofessional” and raised serious questions regarding the credibility and transparency of the entire process.
NSUI Nagaland state unit through its media cell said that candidates were not provided with OMR sheets and were instead instructed to mark their answers directly in the test booklet, which was then collected by the department.
NSUI said there were also reports of correction pens being brought into the examination hall, creating “a high potential for manipulation and tampering”.
Further, NSUI unit said it was widely circulated on social media that test booklet was later found in the hands of an employee of the department, adding department’s response to the incident has been vague and unsatisfactory.
The student body said there had been “credible reports” that candidates who did not qualify the mandatory walking test were still allowed to appear for the written examination.
Besides, NSUI said there were also reports of overage candidates being permitted to sit for the exam.
It said there was confusion across various exam centres due to conflicting instructions regarding negative marking. While some centres informed candidates that there would be no negative marking, NSUI unit said others did not, leading to widespread confusion and unfair disadvantage to many.
The union further claimed there was no proper verification of documents to confirm the identity of the candidates in numerous examination centres, which it described as “most shocking and unacceptable”.
NSUI said such negligence not only violated basic examination protocols, but also opened the door for impersonation.
The union said it would be filing an RTI once the recruitment process was completed to seek factual clarity on these irregularities.
Therefore, NSUI unit has urged the FE&CC department to address the issues transparently and restore the trust of the aspirants.