Churachandpur: Following the abrupt cancellation of SSC examination centres in the hill districts of Churachandpur and Ukhrul in Manipur, many government job aspirants from Churachandpur have been facing uncertainties after months of hard preparation. These candidates are being forced to travel to neighbouring states to pursue their dreams of securing government jobs.
The road to Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram and the nearest examination centre, is over 300 kilometers away, making the journey daunting due to the poor road conditions. Students who traveled to Aizawl for their SSC exams recounted the long and exhausting journey they endured.
On the morning of Sunday, September 15, 2024, a group of students embarked on the long, arduous journey from Lamka to Aizawl, two days ahead of their scheduled SSC CGL exams. Some were set to take their exams on Tuesday, others on Wednesday. This group was one of many forced to make the journey after the Staff Selection Commission abruptly cancelled the exam center in their hometown, leaving them with no option but to choose the nearest safe location.
Although Imphal, the state capital, was geographically closer, it was deemed inaccessible due to the ongoing ethnic strife that had forced them and their community to flee the valley a year and a half earlier. Many had lost their lives during the conflict, making Aizawl, over 300 kilometers away, the only viable alternative.
The journey from Lamka (Churachandpur) to Aizawl via NH 102B spans approximately 333 kilometers, typically taking about 12 hours on a good day. However, due to incessant monsoon rains and ongoing road construction and highway expansion along long stretches of NH 102B, the road conditions have worsened significantly. The slippery, mud-filled roads and the unevenness of the newly excavated mountainside highway make travel treacherous, doubling the travel time. Even for SUVs, every meter presents a challenge, turning the journey into an exhausting ordeal.
Chongneo, one of the aspirants who traveled to Aizawl for her SSC exam, shared her ordeal, stating, “None of us anticipated the nightmare that awaited us. Despite giving ourselves two days for the journey, the near-impossible road conditions ate up hours and days, leaving us fearing that we might not reach Aizawl in time for our exams.”
“Even early into the journey, after just a few hours, some of our vehicles got stuck or slid in the deep mud. We, the students, had to get out and push the vehicles through difficult patches,” Chongneo recalled.
“We also had to endure long stops due to vehicle breakdowns that required emergency roadside repairs. By nightfall, as we finally crossed into Mizoram, already hours behind schedule, the slippery roads became so dangerous in the dark that the drivers agreed it would be safest to continue the journey in the morning. At a time when we should have already reached our destination, we had no choice but to spend the night by the roadside inside our vehicles, tired and hungry, with a steep forest on one side and a deep gorge on the other,” the aspirant added.
With the morning came renewed hope and energy, and the group set off again. At Ngopa, he said that they were advised to take a route better suited for large vehicles. However, just a few kilometers in, they discovered that the route was congested with stranded trucks and other vehicles. Faced with no other option, they had to abandon their bus and walk the 5 kilometers back to Ngopa through deep mud and forest. It was a challenging and arduous journey on foot after an already exhausting ordeal for the group.
The exhaustion reached its peak when the group, after hours of delays, was forced to spend the night in their vehicles by the roadside, hungry and without adequate rest. By the time they resumed their journey the next morning, many had already lost hope of arriving in time for their exams.
Amid the chaos, the Kuki Students’ Organisation (KSO) Churachandpur stepped in to help. The organisation arranged transportation for hundreds of students, alleviating some of the logistical and financial burdens. DJ Haokip, General Secretary of KSO Churachandpur, explained that the organisation had sent out three batches of students since September 10 and had plans to send two more groups by the end of the month.
In a show of solidarity, KSO also started crowdfunding to cover travel expenses. “This denial of a fair chance to compete with peers across the country in such a competitive examination is a form of discrimination that cannot be justified,” he added.
He informed that the SSC’s decision to cancel exam centres in the hill areas of Manipur, citing law and order issues, is particularly unjust when they clearly had no intention of canceling the center in Imphal. This was despite the internet shutdown and curfew imposed in the valley districts due to violent protests that occurred just days before the exams.
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“This shows that the SSC is both blatantly anti-tribal and discriminatory towards the minorities and tribals of Manipur, or that it has been prevailed upon by the majority Meitei state government and has been corrupted, neither of which reflects well on the prestige and reputation of the Commission. No form of remedy short of granting an additional year or re-exam to make up for the disadvantaged opportunity and also restoring the exam centers in the hills would be deemed justified and acceptable in the eyes of such students who have been handed the severest form of injustice in the face of such a life-defining moment in their lives,” Haokip added.
Haokip appealed to the concerned authorities to allow students to take the Tier-II examination in their hometowns to prevent further physical and emotional strain on the aspirants.
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What’s so brave about it? Everyone goes here and there to give exams.
All the voice or every voice of the Meiteis in Manipur state in against of the Non-Naga tribals are heard by most of the eastern journalists agencies and centre government though it may be false reports. Are we not the Indian citizens too? Did not Indian ever heard the Meiteis continuous boycotts of Indian independence days and Republic days claiming that they are not Indians?