Kolkata: CM Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday said recruitment notifications for another 10,544 vacancies in the police force would be issued soon, over and above the ongoing recruitment of 27,556 personnel, and promised large-scale appointments in police, fire services and forest department over the next six months.Addressing a programme at the Kolkata Police headquarters in Lalbazar, where he handed over appointment letters to 309 newly recruited sub-inspectors, Adhikari said 11,902 candidates had been selected against 27,556 advertised posts, of which 6,345 were earmarked for women.More than 1,100 candidates selected for SI- and ASI-level posts would receive their appointment letters in Dec and Jan, and over 4,000 candidates would be appointed as constables in Kolkata Police, he added.“Recruitment will be conducted through Police Recruitment Board. Everything will be transparent and based on merit and in accordance with recruitment rules,” Adhikari said.The CM cited police-population figures to highlight the shortage of personnel in West Bengal. While the national average stands at 155 police personnel per lakh population, it stands at only 105 in Bengal, he said.Adhikari also attributed delays in filling around 46,000 sanctioned vacancies to legal complications arising from a 2024 Calcutta High Court judgment striking down the inclusion of 78 communities in the OBC list by previous govt. The CM said his govt had amended the OBC law and withdrawn the case from Supreme Court, clearing the way for recruitment.Alleging that the previous regime had neglected the police force, he said: “Bengal Police are lagging in infrastructure, logistics, professionalism and training. Had the previous govt taken steps to upgrade the force, the incumbent govt would not have faced these problems.”The CM said state govt would write to Centre to set up new battalions of India Reserve Battalions in Bengal. State govt has signed an MoU with Assam Police Training Centre to improve training and was taking steps towards modernisation of the force, he added.The CM said he, along with the state DGP, would visit Hingalganj on Sunday to distribute Diwali gifts to BSF personnel posted there.
