New Delhi: For nearly five million candidates taking the constable (GD) recruitment examination from next week, the written test will be conducted in 13 regional languages apart from Hindi and English, the union home ministry said on Sunday.
The examination will be held between February 20 and March 7, 2024, across 128 cities for recruitment of constables in the central armed police forces(CAPFs).
This is the first time the constable recruitment examination in the Central Armed Police Forces will be conducted in regional languages. Until now, the questions were set only in English and Hindi.
“This historic decision has been taken on the initiative of Union home minister and minister of cooperation Amit Shah to increase the participation of local youth in the Central Armed Police Forces and to promote regional languages,” an official spokesperson said, adding that there are 4.8 million candidates, who are set to take the examination.
The 13 regional languages include – Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Odia, Urdu, Punjabi, Manipuri and Konkani.
“Constable (GD) examination is one of the flagship examinations conducted by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC), attracting lakhs of youths from across the country. The ministry of home affairs and SSC have signed an MoU to facilitate the conduct of the examination in the above-mentioned 13 regional languages in addition to Hindi and English. Accordingly, SSC has issued a notification to conduct the constable (GD) examination, 2024, in 13 other regional languages in addition to English and Hindi,” the spokesperson said.
{{/usCountry}}“Constable (GD) examination is one of the flagship examinations conducted by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC), attracting lakhs of youths from across the country. The ministry of home affairs and SSC have signed an MoU to facilitate the conduct of the examination in the above-mentioned 13 regional languages in addition to Hindi and English. Accordingly, SSC has issued a notification to conduct the constable (GD) examination, 2024, in 13 other regional languages in addition to English and Hindi,” the spokesperson said.
{{/usCountry}}He said that the reach of this examination will increase among the candidates in the entire country, and everyone will get an equal employment opportunity.
The examination is conducted every year by the SSC for recruitment to forces such as the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Border Security Force (BSF), the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). Together, the forces have a strength of nearly one million.
These armed forces are posted across the country for different duties ranging from managing law and order, internal security, counterinsurgency, protecting frontiers and security of vital installations across the country.
Over the last several years, many political leaders from southern and northeastern states have demanded that the constable (GD) be conducted in regional languages so that language does not become a barrier.
Over 70,000 posts are vacant in six CAPFs– BSF, CRPF, CISF, ITBP, SSB and Assam Rifles, according to government data.
To be sure, all of these vacancies are not in constable (GD) rank but other ranks as well. The recruitment to fill these vacancies is conducted regularly by SSC.