Police recruimtnet

In 2022, the minister of state for home department, Harsh Sanghavi, announced the police recruitment in Gujarat. The same announcement has not been fruitful yet, as the recruitments are still to take place. The process is likely to extend till 2025, and after mandatory training, the joiners will appear for the job in 2026, five years after the announcement!

Thus, a situation like 'Tarikh Pe Tarikh' has been created in Gujarat under the pretext of providing employment to the youth in police sub-inspector (PSI) and Lok Rakshak Dal (LRD) cadre.

The coaching centres for the recruitment exams were filled with enthusiasts in places like Gandhinagar, Surat, Rajkot, and across Gujarat as soon as the announcement was made in 2022, the year of Assembly elections in Gujarat.

In 2024, the year of the Lok Sabha elections, advertisements referring to the same announcement were also made, inviting the candidates to apply for 12,472 jobs on Mar 12, 2024. Before this, the time was spent in the formation of the recruitment board and rules in 2023.

Now, the chairperson of the recruitment board, Hasmukh Patel, tweeted that applications for LRD and PSI police sub-inspectors will take place in August-September again, and the candidates who were unable to apply before over educational qualifications or age can apply if they are eligible now.

PSI Candidates are required to have a Bachelor's degree, and the LRD posts require the candidate to have cleared the Class 12.

This received mixed reactions from candidates on social media, as one of the candidates, Brijesh Mishra wrote that new applicants will pose a significant challenge to the old ones, as already 15 lakh applications have been received for 12,000 posts.

Concerns were raised on how the candidates preparing from the beginning have to start their preparation afresh every time. Some were even concerned about the time taken for the recruitment, requesting an age extension from the chairperson.

Coaching fees of ₹30-40K, Gandhinagar becomes mini-Mukherjee Nagar

Just in Gandhinagar, over 30 coaching centres offer classes for PSI preparations. These centres have fees ranging from ₹30,000 to ₹40,000, for three months of coaching.

Sector 6 of the state capital becomes the epicentre for the candidates, giving away vibrations similar to Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar, which is known for the influx of Indian Administrative Services (IAS) aspirants.

The paying guest (PG) accommodations, houses on rent, and libraries host these aspirants. In Gandhinagar, the prices for PG stand at a minimum of ₹7,000.

Two government and 28 private libraries offer almost 1,100 seats to the dreamers, with private libraries having fees amounting to ₹1,200.

Recruitment becomes campaign

Not just the announcements, but the process of final recruitment has also turned political in the last few years. A senior police officer said that when they were recruited, the appointment letters came to their addresses through posts. However, public programmes are held to hand over the appointment letters to the candidates.