Jobs for Kashmiri youth in paramilitary forces
Feb 26, 2010,

NEW DELHI: As part of the sops to violence-hit Jammu and Kashmir, the government has decided to recruit 2,000 youths from the state as constables in central paramilitary forces (CPMFs). Announcing the decision, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee in his budget speech said that the youths from the state would be recruited in five CPMFs this year as part of the confidence-building measures being taken by the government.

These youths will be recruited in CRPF, BSF, ITBP, SSB and CISF. It will be done under these forces' ongoing exercise of expansion in the next two years. Overall, the strength of these five CPMFs along with two others — NSG and Assam Rifles — will rise from the existing 8, 07,899 personnel to 8, 46,242 by the end of this year and finally to 8, 80,026 by 2011.

Mukherjee also announced the government's decision to set up solar, small hydro and micro power projects at a cost of Rs 500 crore in the Ladakh region which faces an extreme climate. This is being done to address the problem of energy deficiency in the region.

The decision is based on the plan of the ministry of new and renewable energy which envisaged setting up of 30 small/micro hydel projects aggregating a capacity of 23.5MW and about 40,000 solar thermal systems such as water heating, solar cookers and solar green houses among others