Telangana Home Minister Mohammed Mehmood Ali on Friday said the state government will soon recruit 20,000 more people in the state police force to fill the vacancies.

Speaking at the passing out parade of Sub-Inspectors (SIs) of police at RBVRR Telangana Police Academy, he said the government has so far recruited 18,428 SIs and constables.

The Home Minister said Telangana police is known all over the country for its efficiency and the state is a role model in maintaining law and order.

Ali said that the government under the leadership of K.Chandrasekhar Rao is giving top priority to law and order. He claimed that during the last six years the state succeeded in controlling gambling, illicit liquor and spurious seeds.

He pointed out that the government has taken several steps like enhancing the budget, manpower, providing best technology and new vehicles to the police force.

He said on new vehicles alone the government has spent Rs 700 crore.

The Minister said the state was specially focusing on women’s safety. He noted Hyderabad is in the forefront in installing CCTV cameras.

Ali hoped that police command control room coming up in Hyderabad would further help the force in crime control.

He urged the police force to equip themselves with new skills in tune with the changing requirements for better discharge of their duties. He was all praise for the Police Academy, which has so far trained 1,25,848 police personnel of various ranks.

Director General of Police M. Mahender Reddy, in his speech, said that peace is a prerequisite for development and hence police have an important role to play in the society.

The police chief advised the police officers to discharge their duties honestly and efficiently and help achieve the chief minister’s vision of crime-free society.

He advised the personnel to actively participate in government programmes like ‘Harithaharam’ or plantation drive.

A total of 1,162 SIs including 256 women passed out of the Academy on completion of their training.

Academy incharge director K. Srinivas Reddy said this batch of SIs is highly literate, having 218 post-graduates including 37 MBAs, 68 Engineers and others having technical expertise in various fields.

The director said 53 per cent of the total cadets are in the age group of 26 – 30 years.