New Delhi, Nov. 7 -- Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday announced a major recruitment drive across the police and other uniformed services, with age relaxation being considered in some categories.
He also announced that coordinators would be appointed in all 209 proposed wards of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) after November 30 to ensure uninterrupted civic services until elections are held.
At Lalbazar, where he distributed appointment letters to 309 newly recruited Kolkata Police personnel, comprising 212 Sub-Inspectors, 27 women Sub-Inspectors, 36 sergeants and 34 armed Sub-Inspectors, Adhikari said: "Since recruitment did not take place for a long time during the previous regime, we will consider age relaxation in some categories. It will not apply to all categories."
Adhikari said 27,556 posts were in the Police Recruitment Board's recruitment pipeline, including 6,345 earmarked for women. Of these, 11,902 candidates had been selected, recruitment for 5,100 posts was at the final stage, while notifications for another 10,554 posts would be issued soon.
The proposed recruitment includes Sub-Inspectors and constables in the state and Kolkata Police, women constables for the Matangini Hazra and Rani Shiromani battalions, and personnel for the Fire and Emergency Services.
He also announced that 1,331 state police Sub-Inspectors and Assistant Sub-Inspectors would receive appointment letters in December, while 4,000 Kolkata Police constables were scheduled to receive theirs in the second week of January 2027, ahead of the Gangasagar Mela.
The state has around 46,000 sanctioned police vacancies yet to be filled, Adhikari said, pointing out that Bengal has 105 police personnel per lakh of population, against the national average of 155.
He attributed recruitment delays partly to legal complications over OBC reservations. "Two constitutional bodies were caught in a tug of war, and the candidates were suffering. We have cleared that complication," he said.
Assuring police personnel of the government's support in tackling drug trafficking, Adhikari said: "If you find illegal drugs or trafficking, take whatever action is necessary. I will stand by you as a shield."
Referring to the Chorbagan stampede during Durga Puja, Adhikari said better coordination among the police, organisers and volunteers could have prevented the incident. He added that a judicial commission had been constituted and the government would implement its findings.
Separately, addressing a Kali Puja inauguration programme organised in the neighbourhood of Commerce and Industries Minister Tapas Roy on Friday evening, Adhikari announced that coordinators would be appointed in all 209 proposed KMC wards after November 30. They would work alongside administrators and discharge responsibilities similar to those of elected councillors to ensure that civic services continued without disruption.
He said essential services, including water supply, garbage clearance, road cleaning and traffic management, would not be allowed to suffer because of the delay in holding civic elections.
The announcement comes amid uncertainty over the KMC elections following a legal challenge to the proposed ward delimitation. The state government had initiated a process to increase the number of wards from 144 to 209, drawing objections from the Left, Congress and a section of the Trinamul Congress over alleged procedural irregularities.
On Friday, a Calcutta High Court division bench imposed an interim stay on the process of issuing the election notification, leaving the timing of the civic polls uncertain.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.