Karnataka’s Minister for Minorities Welfare, Zameer Ahmed Khan, announced today that his department has provided pre-recruitment training exclusively to 400 Muslim candidates for upcoming Sub-Inspector posts, a move that has immediately ignited a debate on the principles of merit and religion-based initiatives in government recruitment.
The announcement outlines a specific program where the Minority Welfare Department received 2,179 applications, from which it selected 400 eligible candidates—243 boys and 157 girls—for a 90-day residential training camp. The boys were trained in Belgaum, while the girls received accommodation and training in Bengaluru.
Minister Khan expressed strong confidence in the program’s outcomes, stating, “I am confident that out of the 400 candidates who were trained in the camp we organized, at least 160-200 will be selected.” He highlighted that the training was conducted by what he called “the country’s best trainers,” Bhandari and Venkatesh.
A Deeper Policy Focus on Minority Education
The minister positioned this initiative within a broader educational push by his department. “The Minority Welfare Department is giving great emphasis on education. If education is not there, what can a person do?” Khan said. He revealed that out of his department’s total budget of ₹4,500 crore, a significant portion of ₹2,900 crore has been allocated for educational activities.
He also noted that a similar pre-recruitment training for elite civil services like IAS, IPS, and KAS held last year at the Haj Bhavan saw 105 candidates successfully selected into various government departments. Plans are underway to utilize the Haj Bhavan facility for such programs throughout the year, beyond the one month it is used for Haj pilgrimages.
Karnataka Minister for Minorities & Waqf, Zameer Ahmed Khan, claims the state has already trained 400 Muslim candidates for Police Sub-Inspector posts
This is blatant communal favoritism under the guise of “training”!
Police recruitment must be merit-based, not religion-based. 🚫 pic.twitter.com/YuICwnFGHO— 🚩Mohan Gowda🇮🇳 (@Mohan_HJS) October 8, 2025
Criticism Over Communal Favoritism vs. Argument for Empowerment
While the government frames this as an empowerment measure, the policy has drawn criticism from those who argue that police recruitment must be strictly merit-based and blind to religion. Detractors see the program as a form of blatant communal favoritism, arguing that providing state-sponsored, religion-specific training creates an unlevel playing field.
The core of the criticism hinges on the principle that police forces, as a cornerstone of public trust and security, must be perceived as impartial. Recruitment, critics argue, should be based solely on an individual’s qualifications, physical fitness, and performance in standardized tests open to all, without pre-selection based on religious identity.
This initiative emerges in the context of an expected state government notification for about 1,000 Sub-Inspector posts in the coming months
(Source: Vartha Bharathi)
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