Indian Army defers SSB interviews amid Coronavirus outbreak

• The Indian Army deferred all the interviews and selection of officers in the Armed forces due to coronavirus.
  
• The military aspirants are required to go through a four day SSB interview to get into the Indian Army.
  
• Meanwhile, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force are also expected to postpone interviews.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Indian Army deferred all the interviews and selection of officers in the armed forces. The selections were supposed to take place from March 20 — via Services Selection Board (SSB). The new interview dates have not been informed yet.

“These interviews can’t be conducted in the current circumstances. The candidates will be notified when the interviews will be held. No date has been fixed yet,” Army officials told the Hindustan Times.

Usually, the military aspirants are required to go through a four day SSB interview to get into the Indian Army. The first set of interviews was lined up for this week. The SSB interviews are a skill test of aptitude, personality and intelligence of eligible candidates.

The army had also closed several courses catering to the officers — which were to start next week. Meanwhile, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force are also expected to postpone interviews.

The development comes after the number of infectious cases increased in the country. As many as 147 coronavirus cases have been reported in India so far — and it is showing no signs of dying down. Recently, a 34-year-old soldier of Indian Army was also tested positive for the coronavirus infection in Leh.

On similar lines, the Indian Tibetan Border Police also postponed the Constable/Tradesman recruitment exam that was scheduled on March 23, 2020 across 11 centres. The Indian government has already been implementing closure of schools and other educational institutions across states, as a precautionary measure.

Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Calcutta is also looking to schedule online interviews to enroll students in management courses for the next academic session.

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