'Facing injustice...' Para job seekers who cleared exam in 2021 walk 1000 km to meet HM Amit Shah

After covering a distance of over 1,000 km from Nagpur to Delhi in 61 days, a group of paramilitary forces aspirants reached the national capital to draw the attention of the government, demanding the release of their allotment letters for recruitment examinations they cleared over a year and a half back. 

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A total of 150 youths, including 22 women, commenced their foot march on June 1 to seek the appointment of Union Home Minister Amit Shah to register their grievances. Eight of them have managed to reach the national capital, while the remaining are on the way to Delhi and are expected to enter the city on Wednesday.  

These eight aspirants held a press conference at the Press Club of India and sought to draw the attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the home minister against the injustice done to them. These youths claimed that they had cleared the Staff Selection Commission (General Duty) 2018 examination.
 
Rashmita, 25, who hails from Odisha, told media that she and 150 other job aspirants began their march on June 1, covering around 50km daily.
 
"During our two-month foot march, we spent our nights in open areas, gurudwaras, banquet halls and in open tents. We ourselves used to cook food and sometimes locals feed us. During our journey, some of our friends feel ill due to exertion. Yet they continued their march to Delhi."
 
"We demand to fill the vacancies which were announced under SSC GD 2018 recruitment. We all have cleared the written, physical and medical examinations, yet no appointment letters were given to us. We want to ask the government why injustice is being done to us."
 
Narrating her family stories, Rashmita said, "My father is a labourer but he is not keeping well now. So now my mother is engaged in labourer work. My two sisters and brother are studying in the village. I worked very hard to get this job. I had dreamt of taking care of my family. But now I don't know what will happen with me."
 
She talked about the ordeals that her family members have been facing back in the village: "People are commenting on my family. They question whether your daughter has fled with someone. But my parents are very strong and support me in my fight against injustice. They know that I am fighting for my rights."
 
Another aspirant, Birendra Kumar, who belongs to Bihar's Jamui district, said, "Our only aim is to seek our appointment for the posts for which we qualified and were selected in the merit list."

In 2018, the government invited applications to fill around 60,210 vacancies in the Central Armed Police Force. But only 55,913 seats were filled up. The agitating youths are among the 4,297 left who were not taken into the final lists. Some of them have crossed the age limit and could not sit in many examinations. It must be noted that the SSC GD examination is one of the largest recruitment schemes for constable posts in the paramilitary forces. Over 30,000-40,000 candidates, including girls, had applied for the same, notified in July 2018.

Last week, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai informed Rajya Sabha that a total of 84,405 posts are vacant in the CAPFs, and his ministry has decided to fill them by December 2023. Further, giving the breakup of the vacancies in six CAPFs, he said there are 19254 vacancies in the Border Security Force, 11402 in the Sashastra Seema Bal, 10918 in the Central Industrial Security Force, 3187 in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and 9659 in the Assam Rifles. He also informed the elders that the examination for filling up 25,271 posts of constable (general duty) has already been conducted.

Before marching towards Delhi, the protesting students had staged a hunger strike for 72 days in March at Samvidhan Chowk in Maharashtra’s Nagpur. One of the protesting job seekers said that Union minister Ramdas Athawale had assured them of help, but nothing happened. So they decided to come to Delhi. "We have much hope from the Home Minister."

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• Agnipath
• Agniveer
• Home Minister Amit Shah
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi
• appointment letter
• entrance exam
• paramilitary forces
• physical test
• protest
• recruitment exam