NEW DELHI: In its effort to prevent the youth of Chhattisgarh’s Maoist-affected Bastar region from joining the ranks of leftwing extremist groups, the Modi government on Wednesday relaxed the minimum
educational qualification for the recruitment of constables in the CRPF from Class X to Class VIII.
According to a Union Home Ministry statement, the decision will be applicable to the recruitment of 400 general duty constables in the CRPF. The candidates, all of whom will be tribal, will be picked from the Bijapur, Dantewada and Sukma districts.
While the CRPF has been instructed to give wide publicity to this recruitment effort in the “interior areas of these three districts”. To attract as many tribal youths to join the recruitment process, the home ministry is in favour of making “appropriate relaxation” in physical standards as well.
The CRPF had raised a Bastariya Battalion in 2016-17 by recruiting Scheduled Tribe candidates from Bijapur, Dantewada, Narayanpur and Sukma. This, however, did not yield optimum results as the “youth from the interior areas could not compete in the recruitment process as they did not possess the minimum educational qualification.
This time, the recruits will be confirmed in service once they acquire the prescribed minimum educational qualification of passing Class X. Formal education will be imparted to the recruits and the CRPF will “extend all possible support” such as providing books and coaching.