GUWAHATI, July 1 - In what smacks of a recruitment racket in the Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC), over 300 of the 620 contractual drivers recruited in 2015 have failed to clear a re-exam. Worse, around 175 drivers allegedly had fake licences.
Sources in the state-owned transport body said the 620 drivers were made to undergo a re-exam in May in the wake of apprehensions over their driving skill. The fresh test was conducted at the city�s Rupnagar complex of the ASTC under CCTV observation.
Sources told The Assam Tribune that 342 of those who appeared have failed to clear the test. �About 175 could not produce their driving licences. But apparently they had produced photocopies of the licences when they were recruited in 2015. It is suspected that the drivers did not produce the fake licences to evade action from the management,� the sources said.
Sources said the drivers who failed and could not produce their licences are likely to be shunted out of their jobs.
ASTC Managing Director Anand Prakash Tiwari, when contacted, said around 22 of the drivers did not appear in the May re-exam on medical grounds. �Another round of test will be held for them from July 15. Once all are done, we will declare the results and take appropriate action,� he said.
These contractual drivers were getting a remuneration of Rs 6,000 plus DA.
