First day of CSRE held across Nagaland

Candidates share their experiences on the exam 

Morung Express News 
Kohima/Dimapur | November 11

The first day of the Combined Staff Recruitment Examination (CSRE) 2022 under the Nagaland Staff Selection Board (NSSB) was held successfully across 110 exam centres in 13 districts of the State. The exam conducted today consisted of two papers, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon, with an hour break. 

It is estimated that over 50,000 people had registered to appear for the exams for 600 posts. 

Secretary-cum-Controller of the NSSB, B Henok Buchem informed that the first day of the exam was conducted for non-technical posts under different departments. He said that the board was yet to finalise the total number of appeared candidates during the time of filing this report. In the meantime however, they were prioritising on making sure the answer sheets reached their designated safe locations for storage. 

Few districts, especially in Kohima witnessed heavy traffic in the morning, owing to movement of candidates to their exam centres. 

Most of today's candidates had applied for the post of LDA cum Computer assistant, Horticulture Extension Assistant, Field Investigator, Sectional Assistant, Physical, Drawing Teacher, Account assistant among others. The mode of the CSRE examination was through Optical Marks Recognition (OMR) sheet. 

Some who sat for the exam said that the duration of the examination was too long and that 3 hours was very lengthy for 100 marks MCQ question paper. 

The Morung Express meanwhile spoke to the few candidates who appeared the exam today. 

A candidate from Kohima, who wished not to be named, mentioned that Paper I was comparatively easier than Paper II. “It consisted of General Knowledge (state and national), General English and comprehension which had a lot of scoring opportunities,” she said. Paper II featured more of computer knowledge, arithmetic, general intelligence and reasoning. Having appeared for the Nagaland Public Service Commission (NPSC) exam in the past as well, she noted that the questions were fairly easier than the NPSC question pattern.  

Her only objection was in the allotment of exam centres which caused a lot of inconveniences for the candidates.  “They should’ve followed the NPSC model where we have the liberty to choose exam centres based on our locality,” she added.  

Wemese Kreo, a resident of Agri farm colony, Kohima meanwhile shared that the questions weren’t difficult to answer except for those in Paper II.  

He however noted disappointment at the exclusion of stenography posts from the current advertised posts under the NSSB. “Since I had undertaken training for stenography and was anticipating the day when vacancies would be made available, it was disheartening,” he said.    

For Ali Yanna, who resides at Forest colony, Kohima, she said that travelling from one end of town to another to appear for the exam was the most difficult part. Being allotted an exam centre at Government Polytechnic Institute, located on the fringes of Kohima town, it took her almost 2 hours to reach her destination. “I moved out at around 6:30 am, changing from one bus to another to finally reach at 8:30 am,” she commented. 

Having a post-graduate degree in Geology, she will be appearing for Paper III tomorrow at the same centre. “For candidates like us who do not have private vehicles, it is difficult to get to and from the exam centre,” she added.  

Another candidate from Nagaland University (NU), Meriema, who had her exam at Medziphema revealed that the she had to change taxis three times before reaching Dimapur. “As a student spending around Rs 3000 just on transportation was the most frustrating part,” she opined.  

Some candidates who were unable to download their admit cards due to technical errors and incompetencies continued to regret the missed opportunity which for them, is being conducted after so many years of wait and preparation. 

The examination for technical posts will be held on November 12.