DIBRUGARH, March 6 - In the wake of the Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited (BCPL) rejecting applications of several local candidates for an interview for the five posts of senior engineer (electrical), the All Assam Students� Union (AASU) and locals today staged a massive protest in front of the main gate of the BCPL administrative complex, disrupting the interview process as the shortlisted candidates failed to appear for the scheduled interview.
Several candidates, especially those coming from outside the Northeast, were driven away while a few of them were reportedly manhandled. Several candidates from outside, who were witness to the protest, exuded fear of being harmed as they have been staying in different hotels of the city. Some candidates lodged complaint with the BCPL authorities for the unpleasant experience, said BCPL sources.
It must be mentioned here that the BCPL management had received some 575 applications against the five posts of senior engineer (electrical), advertised last year. The BCPL management had mentioned one-year experience as one of the criteria for eligibility in the advertisement (No. BCPL-21/2016). However, citing the problem of �too many applicants�, the management internally increased the eligibility criteria to four years experience and accordingly, shortlisted some 111 candidates. Of these 111 candidates, only 13 were from the State, while the rest 98 were reportedly from other states outside the Northeast.
The student body which has been time and again demanding 100 per cent recruitment of locals, desires that none of the applicants must be denied the chance to face the interview. �We want all the applicants to sit for the interview. The eligibility criteria must also be relaxed so that locals in maximum number can be recruited,� said AASU leader Sanjib Changmai.
Following the protest, the BCPL management announced that the scheduled interview has been �postponed�. The interview process for the posts of senior engineer (electrical) was earlier scheduled for March 6, 7 and 8, 2017 at BCPL, Lepetkata here. The revised interview dates will be communicated in due course of time, the BCPL sources informed.
Meanwhile, AASU sources said that they are surprised that the present State Government has not uttered a word to the BCPL management to give preference to northeasterners in matters of employment at the gas cracker project. Before he became the Chief Minister, Sarbananda Sonowal was the president of the Assam Gas Cracker Project Demand Committee and senior journalist Ron Duarah was the secretary.
