RANCHI: About 750 of the 1,250 regular constables been serving Jharkhand Police since 2005 have failed to clear the basic policing test conducted in December. The constables failed in subjects like basic law and investigation, general knowledge, drill, firing, map reading, weaponry, first aid and physical training.

In a letter to IG training Prashant Singh dated January 7, Jharkhand DGP D K Pandey ordered a seven-day extensive training for all the unsuccessful constables and asked the training department to hold a fresh examination for them. Singh said around 1,250 constables had taken the test and 60% of them failed the tests. The development, a police officer said, is an embarrassment to the police department, which regularly faces allegations of inefficiency and poor investigation skills.

Of the 750 constables, some failed in more than 10 of the total 15 subjects. Bhushan Kumar Munda from Simdega district police and Jagannath Oraon from Dhanbad railway police failed in 13 subjects. A list of failed candidates obtained from the Jharkhand police says most of them failed in investigation because of poor knowledge of law, general skills, drill, firing and official work. The fresh tests will be conducted on January 18. “Before the test, the unsuccessful candidates will be given extensive tuition at the police training school in Hazaribag,” Singh told TOI.

It is mandatory for all constables to pass the examination and the failed constables would not be eligible for increments. “The constables will get around 20% increments in salary and allowances after passing the examination,” Singh said.

The chief of Jharkhand armed police training college (JAPTC) SP Nirmal Kumar Mishra said all the constables participated in 130 days working class on JAPTC campus, where they took lessons in firing, law, investigation, police manual, official work, drill and physical training, before they were asked to take the test. A trainer at JAPTC, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said: “It seems that many of them failed to comprehend what was being taught to them during the classes.”

S N Mandal, a senior functionary of Jharkhand Police Association, blamed poor training before the examination for the mass failure. “They do not teach the constables well before examination. They are deployed for law and order work even during the study period,” Mandal said.

Jharkhand police spokesperson S N Pradhan said a serious lack of interest in improving working skills and lack of awareness is among the reasons behind the failure.

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