Memorial force: Interview over,merit list by August 16

The interviews for the induction of eligible Home Guards in the Uttar Pradesh Special Zone Security Force,which is being set up to protect memorials and parks in Lucknow and Noida...

The interviews for the induction of eligible Home Guards in the Uttar Pradesh Special Zone Security Force,which is being set up to protect memorials and parks in Lucknow and Noida,were completed at nine police range headquarters across the state on Thursday.

The state government had issued a government order for this purpose in May. Initially,a committee headed by Chief Secretary Atul Gupta and comprising Principal Secretary (Home) and the DGP had decided to induct former defence personnel into the proposed force. But the idea was dropped when it was found that there were no members of the Scheduled Castes and women among them.

The Home Guards headquarters had sent the names of 6,000 volunteers,but it was considered advisable to invite applications through advertisement. In the advertisement,which was published on June 31,aspirants from the Home Guards were asked to submit their applications at nine range headquarters in Agra,Allahabad,Bareilly,Gorakhpur,Kanpur,Lucknow,Moradabad,Meerut and Varanasi. In all,over 10,000 applications were received.The interview process began last month and was completed today. The committees headed by range IGs were formed to conduct the interviews and prepare a list of eligible candidates, said DGP Karamvir Singh.

The lists from the ranges are being sent to the central committee. The committee is headed by me and also includes the DG of PAC. We will finalise the merit list of 1,233 personnel,including 187 women,by August 16, he said.

Singh added that after medical examination and character verification,the selected candidates will undergo training at the 32 battalion of PAC in Lucknow. While the uniform for the personnel will be different from that of the police,the decision about its colour and badge is yet to be taken.

While majority of the personnel deployed at the memorials and parks will be unarmed,a separate unit among them will be provided with small firearms to deal with emergency situations,said Singh. Though the security personnel will have the power of search and seizure,they cannot make arrests. They will have to hand over the offenders to the local police. The DGP said they were hopeful of deploying the battalion within a month.

Besides the administrative staff,followers and over 700 security personnel,the battalion will include eight company commanders of inspector rank and 24 platoon commanders of sub-inspector rank. A building,which earlier used to house the Irrigation departments Project Activity Core Team on the VIP Road in Aashiana,has been vacated to set up the battalions headquarters.

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The government has also got 12 residential flats of the Irrigation department and six of the PWD officials adjacent to the same building vacated for the barracks of

the personnel.

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