Three years ago the state government took the decision to appoint women firefighters in the Fire department as it was becoming increasingly difficult for the male firefighters to enter the houses of orthodox Muslims and rescue women, in case of fire incidents.
After getting the clearance from the government, the fire directorate in the first week of April had sought the help of district employment exchanges to fill the posts.
“After one month, not a single employment exchange has come up with the names of candidates. So we have referred the matter back to the department,” said Gopal Bhattacharya, director, fire services. Bhattacharya said that it happened because the employment exchanges could not find candidates fulfilling the eligibility criteria. Criteria for the eligibility says that the candidate should be a district-level sportsperson; she has to be aged between 20 and 27 and should have cleared the higher secondary examination.