'Recruiting youths from stone-pelting areas helping JK Police'

The strategy of recruiting constables from the stone-pelting hotbeds by Jammu and Kashmir Police after the 2010 summer agitation in the Valley has paid dividends as these recruits have proved effective in curbing street protests.
The new recruits also proved effective in curbing street protest after the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, a senior police officer said on the condition of anonymity.
Putting to practice the adage of 'diamond cuts a diamond', the police force had deployed the new recruits, who "knew the game of stone-pelting inside out" in their respective areas.
"After all, the people we had recruited in the aftermath of 2010 knew the game of stone-pelting inside out. Their knowledge of the youth involved in these kind of activities proved pivotal in dealing with the situation," the officer said.

In a multi-pronged approach, the state government launched an on-the-spot recruitment drive in 2011 in various parts of Srinagar city and the worst affect district of the Valley due to stone-pelting.
The main aim of the recruitment drive was to increase the representation of the youth hailing from Srinagar city in the constabulary.

The officer said the main grouse of the youth, many of them educated, was that there were not many employment avenues for them to pursue.
"We launched the drive as a confidence building measure and it worked wonders for us. The presence of local youth in the force has acted as bridge between police and people.

"The best result we have had of their presence so far was the way we were able to deal with the fall out of Guru's hanging," he added.