Patna: Ahead of Bihar assembly election, job bonanza is in full swing as 21,391 newly recruited police personnel on Saturday received their appointment letters at a function in the state capital.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who graced the occasion said that the state now had the "highest number of women in uniform". No other state has as many women in the police force as Bihar has, he added.
"I have asked the DGP to finalise the recruitment of another 55,000 personnel at the earliest. We want to raise the strength of our police force to 2.29 lakh," he stated.
Besides Nitish, deputy chief minister Samrat Choudhary and director general of police Vinay Kumar and other dignitaries were also present at the event where altogether 21,391 fresh recruits, including 11,178 women and 10,205 men, were given appointment letters.
"We came to power in November 2005 and at that time the strength of Bihar Police was just 51,000. Now, the government is committed to increasing the strength of the police force to 2.29 lakh, and our government has substantially increased the strength of women in the force. Presently, the strength of women in the force is 36,000," Nitish commented. He is known for his various innovative schemes for women empowerment including reservation of 50 percent seats for women in the panchayati raj institutions and urban local bodies.
The state government introduced 35 per cent women reservation in police services in 2013 and later in all government services.
Addressing the gathering, deputy CM Choudhary said,
"The NDA government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and CM Nitish Kumar is committed to the welfare of women and their empowerment. Every police station in the state has women officers and all necessary facilities have been provided to them."
Bihar has become the first state in the country where the strength of women in the police force is 28.5 percent of the total strength.
"The process is already on to recruit an additional 19,838 personnel in the Bihar Police. Besides, 10,000 more posts are being created in the force to increase its strength. Around 4,360 drivers will also be recruited in Bihar Police in the coming days," the DGP said.
