The Bihar government on Wednesday handed appointment letters to 10,459 new recruits for Bihar Police, including 3,852 women, at a function at Gandhi Maidan in Patna, which opposition BJP immediately termed as a “recruitment scam”, claiming appointment letters were being distributed to those already working for months.
Speaking on the occasion, chief minister Nitish Kumar said that immediately after he took over as chief minister in 2005, he had embarked on a mission to set the adverse police-public ration in Bihar right, but conceded there is still a big shortfall despite covering a lot of distance over the past decade.
Deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, energy minister Bijendra Yadav, finance minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary and director general of police SK Singhal were also present on the occasion.
CM Kumar said the Bihar government will soon increase the representation of women in the state police force to 35 per cent.
At present, the representation of women in Bihar Police is around 27-28 per cent, he said. “The increased presence of women in the state’s police force has not only empowered women but also made the constabulary more efficient and effective. Now, the state government will increase their (women) representation to 35 per cent,” Kumar said during the event organised by the state home department.
“When I took over the reins in the state, the police strength was just 42,481, which has now reached 1,08,000. My effort is to take it to 1,52,000. I want 160-170 police persons/lakh population. Their efficiency also needs to be increased,” he said.
The chief minister also emphasised the need to crack down on violators of liquor prohibition, the law for which has been in place in the state since April 2006. “You all have been administered two oaths. The second is for tackling those 10% of people who try to fail prohibition,” he said.
Those handed appointment letters were administered a separate oath of prohibition at the event.
In his speech, Tejashwi Yadav said, “A job in police and the Army is national service. After the introduction of Agniveer scheme, more and more youths are opting for police service.”
The deputy CM said those fanning communal tension to disrupt peace will not be spared.
Meanwhile, BJP said appointment letters were being distributed to those already working for months. “The new government is trying to mislead people. All these recruitments were finalised by the NDA government. The CM should tell when was the advertisement published for recruitment,” state BJP president Dr Sanjay Jaiswal said.
State BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand said this was just event management.
A senior official at the police headquarters, who didn’t want to be named, said while the employment notices for the recruitment was published during the tenure of the NDA government, results were published after the present Grand Alliance government took over in August this year.
Of the 10,459 who were given appointment letters today, 3,852 are women, the official said, adding that their appointment became valid from today. “Their character verification and medical examinations are still due. After that, they will sent to the police academy for training and would be formally recruited after successful completion of training,” he said.
Of the new recruits, there are 215 sergeants, 1958 sub-inspectors and 8,246 constables.