The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Army may outsource selection tests

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jun 16, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Army may outsource selection tests

Ravi Sharma

In-house committee suggests that some aspects of the process may be outsourced

Army spends close to about Rs. 6 lakh on training an officer
Outsourcing is likely to cut costs and reduce load on officers entrusted with recruitment

Bangalore: Some components of the recruiting procedure for candidates for the officer cadres of the Army could be outsourced. The training of an officer costs the exchequer Rs. 6 lakh. Outsourcing this process is likely to cut the cost and reduce the “load” on assessors in the Service Selection Boards (SSBs) and staff in the Recruiting Directorates.

The suggestion to outsource aspects of the selection process has been put forward by an in-house committee consisting, among others, of Group Testing Officers (GTOs) and technical officers from the armed forces.

Sources told The Hindu that administrative or clerical tasks like the issuing of advertisements for recruitment to various arms and branches of the officer cadre of the armed forces, scanning applications, verifying the antecedents of the candidates and their qualifying certificates, are tasks that could be done by consultants and even head hunters.

Consultants who have the required expertise in handling mass recruitment in the civil field are to be soon short-listed for this purpose.

To reduce costs, the committee has suggested “online” testing of candidates. “Online” testing, which could be conducted in the 180 Army, Naval and Air Force cantonments or areas spread across the length and breadth of the country will mean that candidates will not have to travel to the existing 15 SSBs that are located in Bangalore, Bhopal, Allahabad, Dehradoon, Varanasi and Mysore. It will save the exchequer substantially since reimbursing the travel expenses of candidates will be almost eliminated. Only those clearing the initial tests will be asked to report to the SSBs.

There is a possibility that initial screening of all important screening test, which is done at the SSBs and attempts to determine the officer intelligence rating (OIR), the social and emotional quotients and personality of a candidate, could be outsourced.

At present, candidates hoping to make it to the officer cadre, with the exception of the medical branch, ha

ve to go through the SSBs. With each candidate undergoing tests for 10 to 13 hours, the work load on GTOs, interviewing officers, technical officers and psychologists from the Defence Institute of Psychological Research is huge. Online testing will reduce the load on officers and psychologists.

Sources said since the 15 SSBs are forced to take “load” far in excess of what they have been equipped for, ad hoc measures, including recalling officers from active formations to be part of the selection process, have to be continuously initiated.

Also, although wastage rates are high with just 0.8 to 1 per cent of candidates making it through in some branches of the officer cadre, interviewing officers, GTOs and psychologists at the SSBs have to evaluate every

candidate who has applied. Online testing will help eliminate candidates who do not have an adequate OIR at a much earlier stage.

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