Centre plans to recruit more Muslim policemen

New Delhi: As the Centre grapples with the fallout of the Muzaffarnagar riots, the Union home ministry is looking at a host of confidence building proposals, including increased representation of minorities at the police station level to help the police better deal with riot situations.

The MHA, which has got views of state police chiefs on the matter, is  mulling at a comprehensive strategy for making police forces more sensitive towards minority sections. 

The police chiefs have told the MHA in a report that there is a need to overhaul the recruitment process by which every community and sub-groups is represented to ward off police bias in communal situations.

It has also been suggested that the police training modules in states needs to be modified to include various professional skills along with the knowledge of different religions.

The police chiefs said that it needs to be examined that despite being equally qualified and there being a huge demand for jobs in the police, those belonging to the minority sections are not being selected. The suggestions compiled in a report after the recently held annual DGPs conference is being studied by the MHA at the moment.

It is pointed out that a balanced representation of all communities in a police station leads to greater faith in the police by the community and also providing better access to the community and also an improved information system to the police.

It has been suggested to enhance the capabilities of the minorities to facilitate their selections, run more recruitment campaigns in minority areas and ensure there is fairness at all levels in the police hierarchy.

It was noted that there is an increasing communal divide in the police forces at the lower levels which needs to be bridged. The central police forces also laid stress on police response to minorities spelling the need for better basic and in service training.