People going for the darshan of Lord Venkateshwara in Tirumala know about the strip being tied around the wrist that shows the time of booking and the probable time of darshan. A similar strip will henceforth be seen in use during the process of recruitment of policemen in State.
The strip, called a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), will be tied around a wrist of each candidate before the endurance test begins. The test is the initial screening process of candidates and has been made mandatory from this year. A male candidate has to run 1,600 meters in seven minutes and a female candidate will have to cover 400 meters in two minutes, before they qualify for other tests in the endurance test package.
Two antennae located at the start line which receive signals from the strip, will record the time taken to complete the run. On completion, the finishing time will also be recorded. Both data will be sent to a computer that is linked to the antennae. These readings are then recorded in an e-file that is created for every candidate. The person who qualifies will then move on to the next level of testing.
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“This is an effort towards ensuring transparency in our selection process. Presently, we depend on stopwatches or timers and manually enter the readings,” said Additional Director-General of Police (Training and Recruitment) S.T. Ramesh. “We are going a step further and are trying to follow better recruitment standards. Our selection process has now been given ISO 9001 certification. This also helps reduce the chances of any complaints, as manual entering of data will soon be phased out,” he added.
The Training and Recruitment Wing has been experimenting with the RFID strips and is also customising them to suit the recruitment process. “We will put it to use during the upcoming process of recruitment of police constables which will be held across 40 centres,” Mr. Ramesh said.
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Apart from using the device to record running time, the police also wants it to be used in other parts of the endurance test such as high jump/long jump, shot put and measuring of height and weight. “We are customising the Body Mass Index machines which will transfer the recorded details to the e-files of the candidates that will be updated regularly,” Mr. Ramesh said.
Those who pass the endurance test will have to write a 200-mark examination that comprises 150 objective-type questions and an essay and précis that account for 50 marks. “We have already standardised the process of correcting answer scripts,” Mr. Ramesh added.