359 posts of constables,8500 applicants

Against the minimum required educational qualification of senior secondary and the minimum required height of 5’7”,over 10 per cent of the total applicants were engineers and postgraduates in different fields like business administration,pharma and law and are over 6 feet tall,Mohali SSP Gurpreet Singh Bhullar,who is chairman of the District Recruitment Board,told Newsline on Monday.

Several candidates were also dental surgeons (BDS).

Besides,different parts of the state,a large number of applicants were from Ganganagar and Hanumangarh districts of Rajasthan; Sirsa and Ambala districts of Haryana; Ferozepur and Gurdaspur districts of Punjab and Chandigarh.

To process the application forms,which exceeded the expectations,the district police have deputed a team of 25 personnel,headed by an official of the rank on an inspector. “Racks on all four sides in two rooms have filled to capacity with the forms,” the SSP said,while disclosing that at least 1 lakh file covers were to be bought to process application forms received by post.

After the ongoing processing,which was likely to take around a month,the district police will conduct a physical efficiency test. The test would comprise a 1600 metres race,3.8 metres long jump and 1.1 metres high jump,will be held in the respective districts,from where the applicants belong.

As per the recruitment policy,the minimum required educational and physical qualifications contain 10 marks each while for every additional standard passed and every additional half inch height,an additional mark will be awarded to the candidates but not more than maximum of 21.5 marks for educational qualification up to M.Phil/PhD/LLM and 20 marks for height 6 feet and above.

However,all the eligible candidates have to clear the physical efficiency test,failing which,even those with highest marks in educational and physical qualifications will be rejected,said Bhullar.

After the first round,the first merit list would be declared and only 1077 candidates will be called for an interview . The recruitment board will shortlist the meritorious candidates on the basis of 2 marks,which the interview carries.

The entire recruitment process is likely to be completed within three to four months.

Presently,against a requirement of 2,782 police personnel,only 1,538 cops were available in Mohali and that also on temporary basis from other districts and wings of the state police.

In the absence of its own district police cadre so far,Mohali has been sanctioned 1,808 posts in the rank of inspector,sub-inspector,assistant sub-inspector,head constable and constable.

The police are overburdened with the excessive VVIP duties,which keep its top brass and field staff on its toes most of the time.