Maya to recruit 1.5 lakh cops

In A pre-election bonanza, Chief Minister Mayawati on Tuesday announced that 1.58 lakh personnel would be recruited to the police department.

In A pre-election bonanza, Chief Minister Mayawati on Tuesday announced that 1.58 lakh personnel would be recruited to the police department.

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The move comes as a surprise, since she had in 2007 terminated the services of 18,000 newly recruited policemen, claiming there was large-scale corruption in the selection process. The recruitment had taken place during the time of Mulayam Singh Yadav. Mayawati had also then decided to amend the selection procedure to make it more transparent.

Addressing reporters after a cabinet meeting, the chief minister said that in addition, a 2,000-strong commando force would be raised to face the growing menace of terrorism. And in order to strengthen the state's Anti-Terrorism Squad, her government had divided the agency into four zones — each headed by IG and DIG-level officers — and located in Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad and Faizabad.

Following up on the decision to bring about changes in the recruitment procedure, the BSP government said it would shelve the old method of recruitment through a five-member board headed by a DIG and instead constitute a centralized board that monitors the process at the grassroots level.

Mayawati said the plan to recruit 1.58 lakh personnel — including 1.51 lakh cops, 3,573 sub-inspectors, 3,152 computer operators and 118 class four employees — was based on a realistic requirement on the basis of the state's population. She also said the state intelligence organization would be restructured. The police department has been directed to revise its weapons inventory.