Muslims, Dalits hone skills to join citys police force
Published: Tuesday, Oct 4, 2011, 10:30 IST
By Manoj R Nair | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA
Around 60 young men and women have been training at a ramshackle
school in the Shivaji Nagar slums in Govandi for a year now to become
constables in the Mumbai police.
The school's stone-strewn ground is training ground for practising the
5-kilometre run, the 100-metre dash and the long jump — the components
of the physical test to select police constables.
For two hours daily in the evening, volunteers of the local mohalla
committees teach the police aspirants written Marathi and discuss
current affairs, apart from the athletic training.
Almost all the candidates are Muslims and Dalits, beneficiaries of a
project by community groups, Magsaysay award winner Jockin Arputham
and Mumbai police that aims to increase the representation of
religious minorities and backward castes in the city police.
This month, the state police department advertised openings for 16,900
posts of constables, including around 3,500 in Mumbai. The volunteers
are hoping that atleast a dozen candidates will make it.
It took them a lot of visits in the area to convince families to allow
young undergraduates, especially women, to consider jobs in the
police. "Since we train the candidates free of cost, there was a lot
of suspicion about what we were doing," said Parveen Shaikh, a member
of the mohalla committee.
Yunus Mukadam, another member said that many Muslim youngsters did not
want to apply because they were sceptical whether they would be
selected. "But if a large number of Muslims take part in the
selection, a few will be selected," said Mukadam.
The misgiving among aspirants is voiced by Nisar Patel, a 19-year old
second year BCom student. Patel has studied in a Marathi-language
school and is confident about clearing the exams. "But Muslim students
do not apply for a policeman's job because they feel their
applications will be ignored," said Patel.
ML Sonkavde, a retired college lecturer teaching the students how to
write essays in Marathi said, "Nearly 70% are Muslims who are not very
fluent in Marathi."
Arputham said, "These young people are idealistic and want to join the
police force to serve society."
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