Minority affairs department to train Muslim youth for cop job

With the state home ministry planning to recruit 3,457 policemen over the next few months, the minority affairs department plans to train Muslim youngsters for the job.

The Maharashtra State Minorities Commission aims to train between 100 and 200 young people from each district in the state. Around 4,400 men and women will receive training.

State minister for minority affairs Naseem Arif Khan said: “As per the Sachar Committee report, religious minorities, especially Muslims, are badly represented in government and semi-government departments, including the police force.”

MA Khalid of Milli Council said that as the written examinations in the selection process is in Marathi, Muslim aspirants from urban areas who are not fluent in the language are at a disadvantage.
“Muslim candidates from rural areas do not face this problem. But candidates from urban areas should be allowed to appear in bi-lingual tests. Candidates who are not fluent in Marathi can learn the language once they join the force. Even IAS officers learn the local language after postings,” said Khalid.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Nisar Tamboli said while the police have not maintained statistics about the number of Muslims in the force, there has been an effort to encourage youngsters from minority groups to join.

“There is no such aim to increase the number of Muslims in the police force. This is pure police recruitment. But the minority department and community groups want Muslims to have better representation in the force.”

“A few years ago, there were directions from the (state) director general of police to give training to people from backward communities, who face difficulty in the recruitment process,” Tamboli added.

The online recruitment process for policemen will begin on September 26. Applicants who have to undergraduates between the ages 18 and 25 will get three weeks to submit forms.