Rourkela: A large number of highly educated candidates appeared for the Home Guard recruitment test held in Rourkela Police District today, despite the job requiring only a minimum educational qualification of Class-V.

For just 107 posts of home guards across 22 police stations, a staggering 9,061 candidates turned up. What's striking is the level of educational qualification among the applicants, as many are graduates, engineers, MBAs, MCAs, diploma and ITI holders.

The job offers a daily wage of ₹612, which amounts to ₹18,360 per month. Despite the modest pay and basic eligibility criteria, the turnout for the recruitment drive reflected the growing desperation for employment among the youth, including those with higher education degrees.

The recruitment process began early in the morning at Sector-6 Ispat Stadium, with a 30-minute paragraph writing test for 20 marks starting at 7:30 AM. This was followed by a general knowledge test of 40 marks lasting an hour from 8:30 AM.

Candidates will also undergo a 2 km walk test and a personal interview in subsequent phases.

Rourkela SP Nitesh Wadhwani, along with six Additional SPs, 17 Inspectors, 86 SIs and ASIs, and more than 150 home guards, traffic police personnel, and 10 platoons of force, ensured security and smooth conduct of the examination.

Additionally, drones were deployed for monitoring the candidates during the examination at the stadium.