Measurement Failure at the Recruitment PET
You are assisting the physical measurement and efficiency test board at a recruitment ground. A male candidate, aged 24, produces a certificate showing he is from Kolkata. His measurements are: height 165.0 cm; chest 79.0 cm with 4.0 cm expansion. The call letter states the notified standards: minimum height 167.64 cm; minimum chest 78.74 cm with a minimum expansion of 5 cm; 1600 m run to be completed in 6 minutes 30 seconds; long jump minimum 3.65 m. A 5 cm height relaxation applies only to candidates from the hill districts, which he is not. There is no re-measurement. One retest in the run is allowed only if the first attempt is within 15 seconds of the qualifying time. In his first run he clocks 7 minutes 5 seconds; his long jump is 3.20 m.
1. State which standards the candidate meets and fails, and whether he should be allowed to proceed as a qualified candidate.
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He meets the chest circumference minimum, because 79.0 cm is above 78.74 cm, but he fails the required expansion: 4.0 cm against 5 cm. He fails height, 165.0 cm against 167.64 cm, and the hill-district relaxation does not apply to a Kolkata candidate. He fails the long jump, 3.20 m against 3.65 m, and his run time, 7:05 against 6:30. Since there is no re-measurement and the measurement failures are disqualifying, he should not proceed as a qualified candidate. The run and long jump results cannot cure the height and chest-expansion failures.
2. Compute the even pace per 400 m needed for 6:30 and compare it with his 7:05. If he runs the first 800 m at his current average pace, what must the second 800 m be?
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6:30 is 390 seconds for 1600 m, so the average per 400 m is 97.5 seconds, i.e. 1 minute 37.5 seconds, or 4:03.75 per km. His 7:05 is 425 seconds, so he is 35 seconds too slow overall, about 8.75 seconds per 400 m. His current average per 800 m is 212.5 seconds, or 3:32.5. If he runs the first 800 m at that pace, he must run the second 800 m in 390 − 212.5 = 177.5 seconds, i.e. 2 minutes 57.5 seconds, which is far faster than his current average. The arithmetic shows that an even improvement of about 8.75 seconds per 400 m is more realistic than trying to sprint the second half.
3. The board has one spare slot and a six-week coaching camp. Give a reasoned recommendation on whether he should be admitted to the camp or rejected at the measurement stage.
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Reject him at the measurement stage. Height and chest expansion are not fitness variables that a six-week camp can change, and the rules provide no re-measurement or category relaxation for him. Admitting him would consume a spare slot that could go to a candidate who meets the notified standards, and it would expose the board to a challenge of unequal treatment. If the board has discretion to allow a non-qualifying candidate to train without claiming a slot, that is a separate administrative decision; it should not be presented as a route to qualification. The fair and defensible course is to record the measurements, inform him of the specific failures, and follow the prescribed appeal or review procedure, if any.