Katni, Feb 27 (PTI) A 4-year-old boy was appointed as 'bal arakshak' or child constable on compassionate grounds in Madhya Pradesh's Katni district, a police official said on Sunday.

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Gajendra Markam, who was appointed this week, had lost his father Shyam Singh Markam, a head constable in the force, in Narsinghpur, Katni Superintendent of Police Sunil Jain told PTI.

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There are some six or eight posts of 'bal arakshak' in Katni, and as per rules, Gajendra will get half the salary of a regular constable till he attains the age of 18 and completes his schooling, Katni additional superintendent of police Manoj Kedia said.

He will attend office once or twice just to get himself acquainted with police functioning while continuing to study, Kedia added.

"The Jabalpur Zone Inspector General of Police sent a proposal to Katni police to appoint Gajendra as bal arakshak here as no post was vacant in Narsinghpur. There is a provision in MP police to appoint bal arakshak on compassionate grounds”, he added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)