54 young men get jobs in Kashmir's `cleanest' recruitment drive ever

54 young men get jobs in Kashmir's `cleanest' recruitment drive ever
MUZAMIL JALEEL

CHUNTIWARI (LoC), AUG 28: They have never travelled by car. They have never watched colour TV. The nearest middle school is an eight-km walk away. The only employment they know of is to work as porters for the Indian Army, carrying rations and ammunition to forward posts. And their only contact with the outside world is dodging the Pakistani artillery shells that land everyday, everywhere. The inhabitants of the area surrounding this border village of Chuntiwari -- right on the Line of Control in Machil sector of Kupwara district -- live in virtual isolation from the rest of Kashmir.

The entire belt of 13 villages has only two dozen government employees, and the highest ranking one is an Inspector with the Forest Department. To help bridge this gap, Director-General of J-K Police, Gurbachan Jagat, organised a surprise on-the-spot recruitment here. The aim was to appoint 54 young men as constables from the poverty-stricken and neglected border area. The unexpected recruitment drive was devoid of any political pressure. There were no recommendations, no chance of nepotism or corruption, because there was no room -- or time -- for such manoeuvring.

Once the helicopter landed, an announcement was made, the boys lined up, their height and chest size measured, their qualification certificates checked and the selection list made public. The entire process was over in an hour.

``I have never seen Rs 5,000 at one time. I believe nobody in my family ever had so much money,'' said Abdul Majeed, one among the selected constables. ``Now, as a policeman, I will get Rs 5,000 a month. I am excited and happy,'' he said with a large grin on his face. But a few feet away, many of his friends and neighbours were sitting, sadness writ large on their faces. These boys had been rejected for being underage (less than 18 years), short-statured or not physically fit enough to meet the tough requirements of this uniformed force.

Around 300 boys -- most of them barefoot and wearing torn clothes -- had gathered here to try their luck at this chance for a government job, perhaps the only fair selection process for any government job in the state.

``Our children have to walk at least eight km to reach the school, as no buses ply in this remote area,'' said 60-year-old Subhan Mir. In fact, the only mode of transport here is the Army vehicles which give lifts to villagers.

``Qualifying Class X is a big achievement for our children, but what next? Hardly anybody can afford to send their children to Kupwara town for higher education,'' Mir said.

There is no electricity in the villages and people use wood to light their homes. There is no piped water supply scheme and people drink from the streams.

``A power (Dhudi) project has been under construction for the past 12 years, with still no sign of completion even in the next 12 years,'' said Nizam-ud-din. He said the water problem gets more acute in winters, when ``people even have to melt ice and drink''.

The on-the-spot police recruitment came as a godsend to the villagers. ``Even if there are advertisements for recruitment, we never get to know about it,'' said Abdul Rashid, who also works for the Army. ``And if our children apply, they are seldom selected because there is no sifarish (recommendation). The only way to get a government job is for village youth to leave home and work as domestic help with a politician or a bureaucrat in Srinagar. After working six to seven years, they are generally absorbed as Class IV employees somewhere,'' he said.

The villagers here have accepted this channel to employment and have begun sending their wards to work as domestic servants at a young age so that they get a permanent government job at the relatively early age of 17 or 18. ``However, this too needs contacts at right place and in right quarters,'' reveals Mohammad Zaman, another village elder.

As the 54 selected boys were being given the final tips by senior officers before transportation in Army vehicles to police lines in Kupwara, several of the new recruits were in tears. ``I have never been to Kupwara,'' said Arif. Indeed, among the 54 chosen ones, only one has been to Srinagar. ``We want to leave for the training right now. We want to have job so that we can send money home and also see the world outside these isolated hills,'' Arif said, looking forward for a slightly more comfortable life for him.