Following widespread circulation of a question paper from the recently held Forest Guard recruitment examination on social media, the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Mokokchung, Dr. Sentitula, IFS, today dismissed it as “fake and false information”.
The Forest Guard examination for 154 posts under the Department of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Government of Nagaland, was conducted across the state on July 12, including Mokokchung district.
Soon after the exam, a PDF file of the question paper began circulating in various WhatsApp groups.
Concerns were raised by some users suggesting that Mokokchung division had not conducted the exam on the same day due to a clash with Nagaland University examinations. One message read, “Someone kindly delete this question paper. I don’t know where you got this but it’s a sensitive situation to circulate this. Mokokchung division is going to appear the same question paper tomorrow.”
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Another user commented, “I don’t think they should allow Mokokchung division to appear the Forest exam. It’s done and dusted already.” Others sarcastically remarked, “Now they’ll score 180/180” and “This Forest Guard exam feels like a South Indian movie, with twists at every turn.” In response to these claims, DFO Sentitula categorically denied any delay or irregularity in the conduct of the exam.
Speaking to Nagaland Tribune, she said, “We conducted the examination on the same day and timing as all other district examination centres. The news and assumptions being circulated are completely false.”
To substantiate her statement, she shared photographic evidence of the process followed. She said, “The question papers were received at 2:30 PM on July 11 and securely kept at the treasury office. On the morning of July 12, the sealed question papers were brought to the examination centre at
Mayangnokcha Government Higher Secondary School (MGHSS), where a male and a female candidate,
representing all candidates, verified the sealed box before opening. The exam was conducted from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM, with 517 candidates appearing out of the registered 525.”
She further disclosed that after the exam, the answer scripts were sealed and packaged within 30 minutes.
“Out of 528 printed question papers, 11 were unused due to absentees and returned in an unopened box. The sealed materials were dispatched at 1:35 PM in the presence of the District Level Screening
Committee and school supervisors, and were submitted to the headquarters by 5:30 PM on the same
day (July 12),” she reiterated.
The DFO expressed her dismay at the misinformation being spread, stating, “It is very saddening to hear such fake news going around when we have put in so much hard work to ensure the examination was conducted in a fair and transparent manner, strictly following all procedures.”
She also responded to a video circulating on social media, which claimed to show how the question paper PDF was shared from Mon division and the department has no knowledge of such incident prior to exam and did not commit any breach.
Dr. Sentitula urged the public to verify facts before spreading unverified claims and reiterated the department’s commitment to upholding transparency and integrity in the recruitment process.
