In a first, toppers in the common entrance test for the recruitment of police constables, jail warders and firemen this year have opted to join the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services (TNFRS).
The trend of choosing police service first followed by prison and fire has been reversed in the recruitment process conducted by the Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board (TNUSRB) for 2017-18, for which results were published on Saturday.
“For the first time, all the candidates who scored top marks have opted fire service as their first priority. The preference is usually in the order of Police, Prison and Fire Service. Going by the cut-off marks this year, the Fire Department has emerged the most preferred service,” a senior police official involved in the recruitment process told The Hindu.
While the cut-off mark for fire service stood at 78 for Other Communities, 74 for Backward Classes and 74 for Scheduled Castes, they were 75, 69 and 71 marks respectively for the post of Grade-II police constables.
Women candidates, who are not recruited into the TNFRS, have chosen the prison service over the Police Department, the official who preferred not to be quoted said. Though the police service involves strenuous work, untimely food and sleep almost on a daily basis, it had remained the first choice of youth seeking employment in uniformed services over the years. Comparatively, work in fire and prison departments is relaxed.
‘Thankless job’
“Police work has become increasingly difficult due to a variety of reasons. Besides inadequate strength, the focus has shifted to VIP security, bandobust for agitations etc rather than core policing. It has also become a thankless job...the police don’t get compensated suitably for the nature of work they do,” former Chennai Police Commissioner T. Rajendran said.
Conceding that the image and dignity of the force had suffered over the years, Mr. Rajendran said the police had to function under the constant glare of the media and other agencies.
“The manpower available for policing the public is limited and [they get] stressed out. Inadequate manpower and continuous work have made police job unattractive at the constabulary level,” he said.
In a related development, the ₹10 crore project of the State government to help police personnel overcome stress and prevent incidents of suicides, untimely deaths and desertions has commenced. Police personnel have been identified to be trained by the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences.