Want a police job? Run 3 km in 7 minutes!

Shillong: Women wishing to join the Meghalaya Police armed wing must run three kilometres in seven minutes or less -- prompting an opposition leader to ask if the recruitment was for the Olympics.

"Are we selecting police recruits or are we selecting athletes for Olympics?" United Democratic Party legislator Paul Lyngdoh asked in the assembly on Thursday.

He said that records from 1975 to 1993 on international women athletes showed they run the same distance and become champions of their times - in eight minutes.

According to an advertisement for the job issued by the Meghalaya Police, female candidates applying for the post of an unarmed branch sub inspector will get full marks (100) if they finish the 3-km race in seven minutes or less.

The same goes to female candidates applying for the post of armed branch sub inspector: they will get full marks (250) if they complete the run in seven minutes or less.

If the candidates complete the race in 14.01 minutes or more, they will be disqualified.

"Even international female runners of the world have not been able to break the record by completing the 3-km race in world championships within seven minutes," Lyngdoh told the House.

"Are we recruiting women into the state police or training them to go to the Olympics?" Lyngdoh asked amidst laughter in the house.

He said the recruitment process must be kept on hold due to the faulty conditions set by Meghalaya Police.

Home Minister Roshan Warjri admitted that errors had crept into the police advertisement and that these would be corrected.