Srinagar, July 30: Spiky gelled hair, sleeveless T-Shirts and branded jeans wearing boys. It was an unusual scene at Bakshi Stadium. The youth from Shahr-e-Khaas were turning into hundreds for a police recruitment rally Saturday.
 Even though the police restricted the recruitment for Eidgah constituency alone, the rush of the aspirants from there was such huge that the entry was stopped in the afternoon. Inside the stadium, police had to bring more men to control the surging crowds.
 A 21-year-old, Hameed Ahmad, (name changed) was one among the hundreds waiting for the turn in the physical examination.
 “I have applied to get a job,” Ahmad told Greater Kashmir. “Our economic condition is not good. My father is a laborer and we have a large family to look after. That is why I am trying my luck.”
 Ahmad who hails from old City’s Safakadal area said he does additional job to help the family income.
 But another aspirant, Fayaz Ahmad Bhat, 24, of Noorabad has come since he was “finding no match for the marriage.”
 “Nobody gives a match to the son of a driver. Everybody wants a government servant as a groom,” he said. “I have studied up to BA second year and am now I am helping my father in his camping agency. But I still feel I need a job in government because its not risky”.
  “Hundreds of boys who have come here want secure future,” Bhat said. “Nobody wants jobs which need Herculean efforts. We want jobs with less effort and round the year”.
 Another aspirant with streaked hair, Showkat Ahangar, 23, said he was a part of protests that erupted in 2010.
 “I was part of protests. But I have a family and I need a job as well,” Ahangar said, who has studied up to class 12 and now does the job of driver. “For how long I will survive on petty seven thousand rupees. There is insecurity. You have family, marriages have to be solemnized and inflation has skyrocketed. How could I survive if I won’t apply for jobs”.
 He said that he would have applied for another job. However, he said, government has “mass opening with less qualification in police department only”.
 “It’s harder to work against your own people, against the sentiment…But there are government jobs in police only. Rest there is nothing for us,” Ahangar added.
 The police said after witnessing huge rush it decided to take highly qualified candidates alone. “We also raised the height of a candidate from 5 ft 7 inches to 5 Ft 8 and half inches. We decided it because we want to tackle with huge rush. The turn over of youth was stunning,” said a police official.   “Watching the enthusiasm the recruitment rally will continue on Sunday as well,” he added. He said that around 3000 youth turned up from Eidgah for the rally.
 The Director General of Police Kuldeep Khoda also visited the rally. Apart from him IG Kashmir, SM Sahai, IG personal, Sheikh Owais,  AIG personal Ghulam Hassan Bhat were also present there.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 30 Jul 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 30 Jul 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 31 Jul 2011 00:00:00 IST