In an effort to reach out to the people of Jammu & Kashmir and buoyed by the response of the locals to similar drives earlier, the Home Ministry has approved the recruitment of an additional 10,000 Special Police Officers (SPOs) in the State police force. The order will come into immediate effect.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh has given his approval for the engagement of the SPOs, especially for the security related requirements, a Home Ministry spokesperson said. An SPO will initially draw a salary of Rs5,000 per month, Rs5,300 after completion of one year and Rs6,000 after completion of three years.
The reimbursement of expenditure to the State Government by the Centre in respect of 10,000 SPOs will be as per existing approved Security Related Expenditure (SRE) Guidelines. There are 25,000 SPOs already in J&K at present.
The move comes in the wake of reports which suggested that thousands of Kashmiri youths have opted for the jobs of SPO defying a call by Hurriyat hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani to boycott the recruitment rallies organised for it.
The Central Government is in the process of providing employment opportunities to 1.40 lakh youths in J&K through various means, including skill development training and jobs in police and paramilitary forces. Official sources said around one lakh youths, who are mostly undergraduates, will be given various job oriented training under a Centrally sponsored scheme called Himayat in next five years.
The youths will be provided short-term training for at least three months, in a range of skills for which there is good market demand. At the end of the training, the youths are assured of a job and there is one year post-placement tracking to see how they are faring. Sources claimed that since inception, 60,000 youths have been given training under Himayat.
The central government is also in the process of recruiting 5,000 youths in five newly created India Reserve battalions in J&K. 60 per cent recruits of the IR battalions will be taken from border districts of the State.