It is a twin victory for the state and the police as 74 people from the tribal communities from Wayanad, Malappuram, and Palakkad districts officially join the state police on Monday.

The government fulfils a moral obligation as Chandrika, the sister of Madhu from Attappadi who was lynched to death by mob, will be one among those taking up the job. Also, it is a win for the police which will make inroads into tribal belts, thereby making Maoist influences weak.

Chandrika, who attended the event with her mother Malli, husband Murugan and daughter Anushka, told that she didn’t know whether to rejoice or cry at this moment.’ “This day is special, but on account of an unfortunate memory, I don’t know whether to be happy,” she said from Thiruvananthapuram.

Deputy inspector general of police (DIG) Shefin Ahmed said the new appointments would be a milestone and help tackle extremist elements trying to infiltrate the tribal hamlets. “The police would have better access to these areas and they would start trusting the force. The young tribal children, who are in school now, would aspire to be like the new recruits, to be part of the force, and lead a better life,” the officer said.

The appointment of these 74 men and women was not easy as the government had to remove ‘provisions of bond and assurance’ for the new recruits. It was mandatory for new recruits in the force (police, excise, forest, fire force) to sign a bond of Rs 25,000 and get two government employees as ‘personal assurance.’ However, it was difficult for them to raise the amount and get the help of government employees.

Recently, the state government did away with these provisions. The police personnel in the districts raised funds for their training period and gave them a farewell in Kalpetta on Sunday. The candidates were in a spot of bother initially as they were not intimated of the the date of joining when they failed to raise the amount and find ‘personal assurance.’

Those who received the appointment letters in the excise department could join the academy in Thrissur on May 2 and their training programme had already started. The State Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission also requested the state government to review the mandatory provisions and ease the joining procedures.

Some 100 people from the tribal community, including women, got selected in the special recruitment by the government as civil police officers and civil excise officers. This includes 69 from Wayanad, 20 from Attappadi block in Palakkad, and 11 from Malappuram. Among them, 51 from Wayanad (39 men and 12 women), eight from Nilambur block in Malappuram (four men and as many women), and 15 from Attappadi block in Palakkad (10 men and five women) were selected to the police. Those from Kattunaykkar, Paniya and Adiya tribes got the selection.

The PSC notified the special recruitment in March 2017 and gave six months to apply. A rank list was published in January after a physical test. The new recruits include two postgraduates and seven graduates and three B Ed holders.