The Staff Selection Commission (SSC) on Monday withdrew the list of successful names from Manipur for recruitment as constables in central paramilitary forces, citing a clerical error, after selection results declared on Friday showed the test was cleared almost exclusively by tribal candidates.
Of the 232 male candidates who cleared the constable (general duty) examination, 231 were from various tribes while one was a Meitei. Manipur chief secretary Vineet Joshi was hurriedly flown to Delhi on Sunday, people familiar with the matter said, to prevent a potential law-and-order problem in a state already roiled by ethnic clashes that have claimed 219 lives since last year.
Over the weekend, several non-tribal candidates (mostly Meitei and Meitei Pangals) who took the medical test after clearing the written and physical exams, met government officers complaining about the anomaly, with breaking protests out at several places in Imphal.
Admitting that an error had occurred during processing, SSC withdrew the results on Monday night.
“While processing the result dated March 15, the data relating to one phase was inadvertently missed out. In view of the above, the result published on March 15 is treated as withdrawn. “The revised results in respect of Manipur incorporating the complete data of the candidates will be published shortly,” the commission said in a statement.
The SSC explained that due to the law-and-order situation in Manipur, the physical and medical tests of candidates belonging to the state were conducted in multiple phases. In a state that has been roiled by an ethnic conflict between the Kukis and Meiteis for close to a year now, the controversy over the exam mirrored the larger fault lines that have led to a breakdown in community relations in the state and led to fears that tensions might be exacerbated if no correctives were taken.
A government official familiar with the matter said, “After the results were released on Friday, many groups approaching government officers said that there was some problem. It was a strange coincidence to have all tribal and only one non-tribal clearing the test. Both Kukis and Meiteis are posted in the paramilitary forces. The student groups also shared the results, which showed that except one Meitei OBC candidate, the rest were all tribal people. Of the tribal candidates, around 70% were from the Kuki tribe. This is why the chief secretary went to Delhi and met SSC officers. The SSC confirmed the error on their part.”
On Monday afternoon, hours before SSC withdrew the list, a joint action committee of candidates met chief minister N Biren Singh. The committee’s secretary Malemnganba Heisnam said, “According to the SSC list, of the 233 candidates who cleared the examination, 141 got jobs under the ST category and 92 were appointed under the UR (unreserved category). Remarkably, of the 92 UR candidates, 91 were tribal while one was a Meitei OBC. When we checked the names, we saw that almost 70% of the tribal candidates were Kukis, followed by other tribes. There was no appointment of people from the SC or EWS category. There were many Meiteis, Meitei Pangals, Nagas, Bengalis, Nepalis and also Kukis who went for the medical test. How is it possible that only one Meitei OBC gets the job.”
HT contacted chief secretary Vineet Joshi but the bureaucrat was not available for a comment. BJP MLA Rajkumar IMO Singh, also the CM’s son-in-law, confirmed that the government had been consulting all stakeholders after the error. On Tuesday evening, he wrote on X, “CS was instructed to take up the matter with central officials and ensure its rectification.”
Ever since clashes broke out between the Meitei and Kuki communities on May 3 last year, Manipur has been divided on ethnic lines. Meiteis who lived in hilly districts have returned to community-dominant valley districts such as Imphal and Bishnupur while Kukis settled in Imphal have shifted to relief camps in hilly areas. Security forces guard the boundaries between the hilly and valley districts to ensure people from one side do not enter the other’s territory. Even junior police functionaries are split on ethnic lines. Meitei police officers are posted in the valley while Kuki personnel are assigned duties in the hilly districts.