The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has completed the recruitment process of 400 tribal youth from three worst Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected districts in Chattisgarh. The new recruits from the districts of Sukma, Bijapur and Dantewada will join basic CRPF training in March, a senior government official said.
To encourage recruitment from the Maoist-affected districts, the Union Cabinet on June 1, 2022, approved a proposal by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to relax the requisite minimum educational qualification to Class VIII from Class X for the local youth from the three districts. The official said the services of the recruits, however, will only be confirmed after they acquire the minimum educational qualification of Class X, for which CRPF will help them register with the National Institute of Open Schools recognised by Central or State government.
The official said that thousands applied for the advertised post of Constable (General Duty). “We have kept the identity of the candidates finalised for the posts under wraps due to security reasons. The families of many candidates have received threat from Maoist cadres warning them from joining the force,” the official explained.
This is not the first time such a special recruitment drive was launched in the LWE-affected districts. In 2016, CRPF raised one Bastariya Battalion, comprising 744 Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates from Bijapur, Dantewada, Narayanpur and Sukma districts of Chhattisgarh. The official said many positions remained vacant as the tribal youth from interior locations of the four districts could not meet the educational requirement criteria.
“To overcome the lacunae, it was decided to relax the educational qualification for the current recruitment drive,” the official said, adding that verification of character and antecedents of the selected candidates is being done by the State police and is likely to be conducted in a few weeks.
Another official said that they were ensuring wide publicity of the drive to encourage maximum participation and create awareness about the recruitment rallies.
“In addition to information dissemination through radio channels and newspapers, banners were placed at several locations. The CRPF teams made announcements while patrolling the interior areas. The District Reserve Guards (DRG) of Chattisgarh police and the Bastaria battalion personnel who are local residents helped spread the word around,” the official said.
The recruitment process involved physical and written examinations. At the time of joining, the Constables will be entitled to a minimum salary of ₹21,700, in addition to dearness allowance, ration allowance and free medical and accommodation facilities.
