Bhagalpur: Police have planned to train youths in community policing at a special free coaching centre here.

A workshop-cum-orientation programme was organised here on Sunday to launch the coaching centre to groom students, particularly from economically weaker sections, for comparative examinations, especially that of junior-ranking officers of Bihar police.

Coaching classes for the first batch of successful selected aspirants for junior officers' examination of Bihar police will start from December 1.

"The proposed coaching centre will not only help students achieve their goals but also give a positive massage of community policing to the society. We will have the opportunity to interact as well penetrate the society through it. It will help initiate better policing," said Bhagalpur senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manoj Kumar on Sunday.

"I am preparing for the junior police officers' exam which is scheduled to be held in March 2018. But since I could not afford coaching institute, I lost confidence seeing my friends attending coaching centres. But thanks to Bhagalpur police for opening the door to us," said Arti, a student from Nathnagar.

The centre will start in the open theatre at Sandy's Compound from December 1, where expert cops, civil officials and other experts will take regular classes.

"We have requested master trainers who can easily motivate students to achieve success," he said, while adding that some officials like Ramanand Kausal, Rakesh Singh Prabhakar (all deputy superintendent-rank officials) and district provident fund official Rajendra Chandravanshi to spare at least an hour's time for the centre. "Chandravanshi has previous experience of running coaching classes so we just want to explore his experiences here," said the SSP. Some experts from private educational coaching institutes will also join the classes.

According to the SSP, the coaching classes will initially aim at preparing students for the junior officers' police exam to fill up the recently announced vacancies. "We earlier sought applications from the areas falling under almost all police stations in Bhagalpur. After scanning those, we selected around 500 students, including a sizeable number of girls who would get free coaching at the centre." He said another branch of the coaching centre could be opened in Kahalgaon, as the number of applications from the students gradually increases.

According to Kahalgaon deputy superintendent of police Kausal, during the selection of candidates, physical fitness and economic background of each candidate was minutely monitored so that underprivileged students could avail of free coaching.

The SSP also inaugurated a special website for the coaching classes. Deputy superintendent of police (rural) Prabhakar said the candidate for the coaching will have to log into the website to register his/her name first to enjoy all types of additional help like important information, model question papers and other tips for the exam. He said all students will be connected through WhatsApp so that messages/instructions could be sent time to time to them easily.