Call for more defence jobs

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 26: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik has urged the Centre to recruit more tribal youths from Orissa in the defence forces.

Naveen made the demand during a meeting with Union defence minister A.K. Antony at New Delhi yesterday.

The state has been emphasising on providing recruitment for more tribal youths so that they are kept away from Maoist influence. Tribals constitute 22.13 per cent of the state’s total population.
Listing the measures taken to provide jobs to tribals and to increase their employability, the chief minister said his government had started recruiting tribal youths as special police officers for eventual appointment as constables. The state was also setting up industrial training institutes in all tribal blocks.

He said that the state, under the employment mission, was providing special training to tribal youths as per the requirement of the armed forces, so that more youths qualify the recruitment tests.

Patnaik urged Antony to ensure that, if necessary, suitable modification of physical standards are made to facilitate the entry of tribal youths into the Army. Tribal youths in Orissa often fail to meet physical standards like height requirement.

Naveen also demanded setting up of two more branch recruitment offices, one in Koraput and the other at Baripada. At present, three branch recruitment offices are located at Cuttack, Gopalpur and Sambalpur, each catering to 10 districts covering a population of over 1 crore.
Naveen said that Orissa had been sanctioned 405 police personnel for its five coastal police stations and the responsibility for their training rested with the coast guard.