The written test for the constable (GD) job exam will be given in 13 regional languages besides Hindi and English starting next week, the union home ministry said on Sunday. These languages will be used by about five million people who are applying.
The test to hire constables for the central armed police forces (CAPFs) will take place in 128 towns from February 20 to March 7, 2024.
This is the first time that the Central Armed Police Forces’ entrance test for constables will be given in a regional language. Up until now, the tests were only given in English and Hindi.
A spokesperson for the government said, “This historic decision was made at the initiative of Union home minister and minister of cooperation Amit Shah to increase the participation of local youth in the Central Armed Police Forces and to promote regional languages.” The spokesperson also said that 4.8 million people are scheduled to take the exam.
If you count Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Odia, Urdu, Punjabi, Manipuri, and Konkani, you have 13 regional languages.
“Constable (GD) examination is one of the flagship examinations conducted by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC), attracting lakhs of youths from across the country. The Ministry of Home Affairs and SSC have signed an MoU that makes it easier for the test to be given in Hindi, English, and the 13 regional languages listed above. So, the SSC has put out a notice that the constable (GD) test, 2024, will be held in 13 regional languages besides English and Hindi, a spokesperson said.
He said that this test would be open to more people across the whole country and that everyone would have the same chance to get a job.
The SSC holds the test every year to hire people for the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Border Security Force (BSF), the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). The forces are strong enough to hold together about a million people.
The armed forces are stationed all over the country to do a variety of tasks, such as maintaining law and order, keeping the country safe, fighting insurgencies, guarding the borders, and keeping important sites safe.
In the past few years, many political leaders from southern and northeastern states have asked that the deputy (GD) be held in their own languages so that language doesn’t get in the way.
Government data shows that there are over 70,000 open positions in six CAPFs: the BSF, the CRPF, the CISF, the ITBP, the SSB, and the Assam Rifles.
To be clear, not all of these jobs are for constables (GD), but for people in other ranks as well. It is common for SSC to hire people to fill these positions.