Harish Rao demands filling of all 19,000 vacant police posts

BRS leader T Harish Rao accused the Congress government of failing unemployed youth and demanded recruitment to all 19,000 vacant police posts. He also sought restoration of previous age limits and objected to changes in physical eligibility criteria

Hyderabad: BRS Deputy Floor Leader T Harish Rao on Thursday accused the Congress government of deceiving unemployed youth and demanded that it issue a notification to fill all 19,000 vacant police posts in the State instead of limiting recruitment to 5,000 posts.

A group of unemployed youngsters preparing for police recruitment met the former Minister here and submitted a representation alleging injustice in the government’s recruitment plans.

---

After hearing their concerns, Harish Rao criticised the Congress government for failing to fulfil its promises on employment.

He recalled that the Congress had promised to provide two lakh jobs every year if voted to power. However, even after two-and-a-half years in office, the government had failed to provide even 20,000 jobs, he alleged.

Harish Rao said restricting recruitment to 5,000 police posts would disadvantage candidates from rural areas. He claimed that nearly 2,000 of the proposed vacancies would be allocated to the Hyderabad region. With reservations applied to the remaining posts, candidates from several categories in rural districts may end up with little or no opportunity for selection.

Citing the Director General of Police’s statement that 19,000 police posts remain vacant, he termed the government’s reported plan to recruit only 5,000 personnel as a betrayal of unemployed youth.

He demanded that the government should issue a single notification to fill all vacant police posts. The BRS leader also sought restoration of the upper age limits that were in force during the previous BRS government. He demanded that the maximum age be fixed at 36 years for constable posts and 38 years for Sub-Inspector posts.

Harish Rao further objected to changes made to the physical eligibility tests. He said that during the BRS regime, candidates were required to qualify in three out of five events. Under the current rules, the standards for events such as the long jump and shot put have been increased, and candidates are required to qualify in all three prescribed events, he said.

Describing the changes as unfair, he said they had made the recruitment process more difficult for aspirants.

He also accused the Congress government of going back on its promise to waive job application fees. Instead of providing relief to unemployed youth, the government was collecting substantial fees from applicants, placing an additional financial burden on them, he alleged.

Harish Rao demanded that police recruitment applications be accepted without charging any fee.