‘How do we know if a candidate has underlying conditions?’

In the past few weeks the recruitment drive for posts of motor drivers in the Mumbai police has seen the death of two candidates post the physical test In an interview with midday in the aftermath of the deaths the cityrsquos Joint Commissioner of Police Administration S Jaykumar explains that despite the allotment in specific slots candidates continue to show up early In such a scenario they cannot be forced to returnJaykumar further said that the training centres have maximum arrangements for emergencies but they are not able to stem the tide of hundreds of candidates who stay before or beyond their slots The interview also reveals that there is no provision under recruitment for vital medical tests of candidatesRead on for a complete account of the interviewThis year two candidates mdash Ganesh Ugale from Washim and Amar Solanke from Amravati mdash died after a physical test This has happened every alternate year The candidates have claimed that the lack of facilities at the Kalina centre is to blameWe have arranged sufficient facilities like toilets water and sleeping tents at all recruitment centres During the earlier days of the recruitment drive candidates sleeping on the roads or on the footpath were informed about the facilities and asked to rest inside the grounds at KalinaS Jaykumar JCP AdminYet candidates continue to sleep on the median at KalinaWe call all candidates according to their slots Many come in early We canrsquot stop them from coming early or a day before We are also informing them to sleep inside the LA Local Arms unit at Kalina but we cannot force them All facilities are available at LA KalinaAlso Read Mumbai Police recruitment candidates get some relief but shelter toilets remain an issueAre candidates called in according to their slots If they know their slots they would not have to sleep on the roadWe are calling candidates in slots We have two slots daily The first slot is from 5 am to 10 am During these five hours we test 1000 candidates according to hall tickets The second slot is from 10 am to 12 pm Noon onwards considering the hot sun and safety of the candidates we do not conduct tests The second slot resumes at 4 pm and continues till all candidates have given their test However despite having these slots candidates from other slots hang around the centre right from early morningCan the groups of 1000 candidates be divided into smaller ones This may help decongest the centresWe cannot do this as many candidates do not turn up If we create a slot of 200 candidates and only a few turn up the slot time will be wasted We do not want to waste the recruitment hours and other candidatesrsquo timeWhat services are deployed at the centre to attend to emergenciesWe have deployed doctors at the finishing line of the 1600metre running test and have also kept ambulances If any candidate faces trouble breathing or collapses they get medical treatment on the spot We have also arranged for shaded areas near a 600metre running track We are doing our best to ensure that all emergency services are made available to avoid untoward incidentsAccording to cardiologists it is recommended to conduct an ECG 2D Echo and blood pressure tests before starting physical tests like the ones done at recruitment to avoid casualties Why are these tests not done It may save candidates who are not physically capableWhile we have a team of doctors and ambulances ready these tests are not mentioned in our recruitment criteria If we were to check 100 candidates I am sure at least 40 will have low oxygen levels and many candidatesrsquo BP will be low or high This method cannot be used to assess physical fitness All candidates who come for the recruitment look physically fit but we canrsquot know if they are suffering from a diseaseBut if at least the oxygen level and BP are checked one would get an idea of the candidatersquos health and untoward incidents may be avoidedYes but this does not come under police recruitment criteria If we conduct the test and despite everything the candidate collapses who will be responsible The doctor will be blamed too This is not feasible Each candidate must also take responsibility for themselves and decide whether to run or not We ask candidates before taking the test whether or not they want to run