Government tightens recruitment process in paramilitary forces

New Delhi, July 5 : The government Sunday approved a revised scheme for enrolment of constables in all paramilitary forces in the wake of a recruitment scam in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

Application forms will now be designed centrally in optical mark reader (OMR) sheets so that it can be scrutinised through computer. An OMR sheet is a data input device that is customised to the client's needs and can be used for conducting an examination, survey, or feedback in government and private organisations.

The CRPF recruitment scandal in Bihar and Jharkhand came to light two month ago, leading to the arrest of nine people including Inspector General of CRPF in Bihar Pushkar Singh.

Investigations into the scam revealed that sums ranging from Rs.300,000 to Rs.350,000 were collected from each of several candidate by touts and part of the money went to senior CRPF officers.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) estimates that touts and officers involved in the racket collected over Rs.2.25 billion.

Tightening up procedures, the home ministry said that no officer against whom departmental proceedings for major penalty is pending will be associated with the recruitment process.

“Similarly, an officer against whom charges of bungling in previous recruitment have been proved will not be associated with the recruitment process for the next five years,” the home ministry said in a statement.

“No officer belonging to the state in which the recruitment is being done will be a member of any recruitment board for that state. The biometric methods will be used at all stages of recruitment.'

Said a home ministry official: “The new scheme aims at making the process of recruitment more objective and maximising the use of technology in recruitment.”

The physical efficiency test, that also forms part of the recruitment process, will now be only qualifying in nature and will not carry any marks while the written test will consist of OMR-based objective type multiple-choice questions.

Question papers will be set centrally and interviews will be discontinued. In addition, a website will be opened along with a help line and a complaint line, giving telephone numbers and SMS-based assistance.

Constabulary forms the major component of central police forces. In 2008, about 18,000 vacancies of constables were filled in various forces.