New Delhi, Feb 11 (IANS): For the first time, the Constable (General Duty) Examination for recruitment of constables in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) will be conducted in 13 regional languages in addition to Hindi and English.

In a statement on Sunday, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that the examination for around 48 lakh candidates will be conducted from February 20 to March 7 in 128 cities across the country.

"This historic decision has been taken on the initiative of Union Home Minister Amit Shah to increase the participation of local youth in the Central Armed Police Forces and to promote regional languages," an MHA official said.

The question papers for the examination will now also be prepared in Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Odia, Urdu, Punjabi, Manipuri and Konkani, he said.

The Constable (GD) Examination is "one of the flagship examinations conducted by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) attracting lakhs of youths from across the country. Therefore, the MHA and SSC have signed an MoU to facilitate the conduct of the examination in the 13 regional languages in addition to Hindi and English", the official said.

"The decision will result in lakhs of youth taking part in the examination in their mother tongue and improve their selection prospects. As a result, the reach of this examination will increase among the candidates in the entire country and everyone will get an equal opportunity for employment," the official added.