Jammu and Kashmir: 1.18 lakh bid for 5,362 constable posts in state

While several students are out on the streets of Kashmir throwing stones at police, several others are queuing up for a job in the police force. In order to bring transparency in the selection process, the police for the first time have outsourced the recruitment process to a private company.

“We have received around 1,18,000 applications from across the state for the posts of 5,362 constables,” Deputy Inspector-General, central Kashmir, Ghulam Hassan Bhat told The Indian Express. “Similarly, 70,000 candidates have applied for the posts of 680 sub-inspectors. There are female candidates as well, but their number is much less.” In the Valley, the police have completed the first phase of the recruitment — the physical endurance test (PET) and physical standard test (PST) — in all districts except Kulgam, Pulwama and Shopian, the three volatile south Kashmir districts. The process in Kulgam started on Sunday.

The highest number of applications has come from Anantnag district, while only 1,019 candidates have applied for the posts from Kargil district. In the four volatile districts of south Kashmir, 5,121, 2,902, 3,419 and 1,704 candidates have applied from Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian and Pulwama districts, respectively.

The police had recently issued an advisory to its personnel asking them not to visit their homes, especially in south Kashmir, after militants stormed the homes of a few policemen. DIG Bhat said the recruitment “is still under way. Around 80 per cent of the candidates who had applied for these posts have appeared in PET and PST. Those who qualify the first phase will have to appear for a written test.”

Of the candidates who have applied for the posts of sub-inspectors, only 1,187 are women. The highest number — 31 women — have applied from Srinagar while only 18 have applied from Leh district in Ladakh. The endurance tests of candidates for the posts of constables are being conducted by a Lucknow-based company, while another private company is conducting the tests for aspiring sub-inspectors.

Share