KozhIkode: The state government may have announced in 2009 that women will be recruited as excise guards, but there are still no women among the Civil Excise Officers four years later.
Although 10 per cent of these posts were supposed to be reserved for women, the department has still not recruited any despite being short of staff.
Sources reveal, the decision to recruit women as excise guards was taken as the male staff found it difficult to tackle cases in which women were involved in illicit distilling and liquor sale.
Often these women distillers took advantage of the law which insists on the presence of women law enforcers when dealing with female offenders, according to them.
On the government's insistence the district heads of the department reported their vacancies to it and it was decided to recruit 274 women guards to begin with .
However, the Public Service Commission, which held an examination to appoint women officers in the department, has not published the final rank list.
It has come out with the preliminary rank list and conducted a physical fitness test for them.
Ask Kozhikode Assistant Excise commissioner PK Suresh, and he says the department is awaiting the Public Service Commission’s order on the postings.
