In a bid to expedite its fight against left wing extremists (LWES), the Orissa government on Sunday set a target of filling 12,000 vacant posts in the state police by end of October, official sources.
This was decided at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneswar. "Besides, steps will be taken to raise the 6th India Reserve Battalion (IRB) soon," an official attending the meeting said.
The fresh recruitment for 12,000 personnel include appointment of 3500 special police officers (SPOs) in naxal infested districts, they said adding steps would be taken to fill up some posts on the basis of promotions in the police department.
Elaborating on the establishment of new IRB, the official said 1,000 personnel would be taken in the new battalion.