Major services including medical emergencies and travel took a hit on Sunday in Rajasthan as the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government suspended internet services in several districts to curb ‘cheating’ in competitive exams.
Districts like Bikaner and Dausa, including capital city Jaipur, faced a 12-hour mobile internet shutdown from 6 AM on Sunday as more than 10 lakh aspirants sat for Patwari exams. The recruitment examination was conducted in more than 20 districts in the state over the weekend.
Emergency services impacted
As per a Times of India report, a startup operating in the medical space serving 10,000 people daily revealed that their medicine deliveries and instant doctor consultations were severely impacted by the two-day internet shutdown.
“In tier-II and tier-III cities, majority of the people depend on mobile Net. Because of shutdowns, people in need of medical attention could not book appointments with doctors. We serve about 8,000-10,000 people daily. The volume came down to about 2,000 on both the days,” said Shreyans Mehta, co-founder of Medcords.
People undertaking travel could not opt for web check-in for air travel, track train arrivals or book transport to airports, railway stations or hospitals.
Sanjay Kaushik, a tourism expert from Jaipur said, “Mobile internet is mostly used for communication. People travelling do web check-ins, track train timings and many other stuff. At hotels, restaurants, and shops, they pay digitally. They faced inconveniences. This does not send out a good image of the state.”
Another user unaware of the ‘masterstroke’ used by the state government as a clampdown on cheating Tweeted, “Recently learnt that Rajasthan shuts down Internet for the entire state during exams to ensure no cheating takes place.”
https://twitter.com/devzoy/status/1452540272320016385?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwA commuter who was caught by surprise by the internet suspension said, “I thought the petrol station would have wi-fi and the machines would be working. But after filling up my tank, I discovered that I have to pay cash as the machine is not working. I had to call up home to get money and pay for the fuel.”
Question paper leaked before the exam
Ironically, despite the curbs, the Rajasthan police on Sunday arrested 12 people from Bharatpur in connection with an alleged question paper leak of the Patwari recruitment examination.
The police nabbed a gang who allegedly received the question paper just ahead of the examination and leaked it amongst the aspirants.
Internet suspended for REET
This is not the first time that the Rajasthan government suspended the internet across the state as a measure to curb cheating in competitive exams. We reported how the state government in September had suspended mobile internet services, bulk SMS/MMS and social media platforms in Ajmer district in the wake of the Rajasthan Teacher Eligibility Test (REET).
The decision to suspend mobile internet services was taken a day after the Rajasthan police apprehended a gang of four members with Rs 5.60 lakhs in cash in an alleged attempt to make dummy candidates appear for REET 2021.