AP govt postpones police recruitment test

The state government has postponed indefinitely the written examination for recruitment of sub inspectors (SI) of police, slated for December 18 and 19, in the light of protests by Telangana activists.

Pro-Telangana outfits, particularly the joint action committee of Osmania University (OU) students, are against recruitment of police personnel prior to declaration of Hyderabad as a part of Zone VI (Telangana) and not a 'free zone', which means candidates from other regions of the state can also compete for the police jobs.

Announcing the postponement of the exam, home minister, P Sabitha Indra Reddy, said the decision affected thousands of aspirants “who were preparing for the test for the past two years.”

She said over 67,000 applications were received across the state for 1,200 SI posts. Of them, 31,000 had qualified the physical endurance test.

The home minister said that the government considered Hyderabad as part of Zone VI. This was also explained to the students leaders but to no avail. The students continued their agitation despite this clarification and the government had to postpone the exam to ensure peaceful atmosphere in the state.

Following the minister's announcement, the OU students called off their agitation. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi, which is spearheading the movement for a separate Telangana state, also withdrew its bandh call.

The government's decision, however, sparked unrest in other parts of the state.