State wants 10% of cops to be Muslims

To raise the percentage of Muslims in the police force from from 4 to 10, the state minority department has introduced an ambitious pre-selection training programme that aims to train 3,500 youth from minorities sections.

The state has allocated a fund of Rs2.17 crore for the two-month camps in all districts across the state. It has also proposed to hike the attendance allowance to Rs2,000 per year for minority students in classes V to VII to decrease the dropout rate.

According to the Sacchhar committee report released in 2006, nearly 5% constables in the police force are from the Muslim community, against its population share of 10.5 % in the state. The state government, of late, has been taking measures to increase the percentage of Muslims in government services by introducing Marathi in Urdu schools and appointing a DCP rank official at the recruitment centres for constables. The latest scheme is to train 100 candidates per district to facilitate selection in police recruitment.

“Muslim and other minority community candidates appearing for the police recruitments face problems while answering Marathi question papers. The training camp will focus on training them in Marathi, general knowledge and also in physical tests. We have raised the remuneration of the teachers and have also offered a monthly stipend of Rs1,500 to candidates selected in these camps,” said minority minister Anees Ahmed.

“The candidates chosen for the training will be given study material, track suits and quality food during the training,” said TF Thekkekara, principal secretary, minorities department. The scheme is open to all the five minority communities, but has the provision of accommodating only Muslim candidates if youths from other minorities don’t make up the adequate percentage.

The department has also proposed to hike the attendance allowance for minority students in fifth and seventh standard. According to the proposal, the attendance allowance of Rs20 per day, is aimed at reducing the dropout rate among minorities. The proposed hike is nearly five times the present amount.

“At the secondary school level, the dropout rate among Muslim students is 43.2 %, against 41% in scheduled tribes and 23.9 % in the general category. Among male Muslim students, it is worse. The scheme would be sanctioned by the cabinet in next few days,” said Ahmed.