Desperate techies join as constables

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Hyderabad: More and more jobless engineering graduates are joining the state police to work at the lowest rung as constables.
Around 10 per cent of 12,000 constables who are undergoing training in various Police Training Centres and police colleges are Bachelor's of Technology (B.Tech) graduates.According to the training wing of the state police, around 50 per cent of trainee constables are graduates, including the 10 per cent who are engineers. The minimum qualification required is Intermediate.
A senior IPS officer said, “Most of them are B.Tech graduates, postgraduates in various faculties and other graduates who are going to complete their training in October 2013 and will be joining their duties.”
According to Additional DG Law and Order V.S.K. Kaumudi around 5,900 civil constables, 2,125 Armed Reserve constables, and 3,700 APSP battalion Stipendiary cadet constables are being trained in various centres in the state. The total strength of the state police is currently 97,000, one of the largest of any state in the country.
Academics say that engineering graduates queue up for constable jobs because they lack the skills for engineering jobs, which speaks volumes about the quality of education that is being imparted.
JNTU Hyderabad registrar N.V. Ramana Rao says, “Every year, nearly two lakh engineering graduates are being churned out from engineering colleges. But according to a Nasscom survey, only 10 per cent of them are employable.
He added, “This is because majority of the engineering colleges are substandard and were set up just to secure funds from the government under fee reimbursement scheme.”
“The graduates lack engineering skills and companies do not offer them any jobs after completion of their course. They look to the APPSC and other recruitment boards to secure government jobs,” he said.