Kathmandu, March 24 As many as 35,264 applications have been received for 5,444 posts of constable lying vacant in Nepal Police. The number of applicants is nearly seven times the vacant posts announced by the law enforcement agency. The vacancy for the posts was advertised on February 31. The deadline for filing applications for the vacant posts was March 13. According to officials, over 60 per cent of the applicants have passed SLC or above although candidates for the posts require only Grade VIII certificate. The number of people who want to work in the force is a grim reminder of lack of opportunities for educated youths in the country. Aspirants had filed their applications through the metropolitan police ranges in Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur, all five Regional Police Training Centres based in Biratnagar, Bharatpur, Butwal, Nepalgunj and Dipayal, and district police offices. The number of applications exceeded that of applicants as hundreds of candidates have applied both under the quota system and open competition. Of the 5,444 vacant positions, 2,934 will be filled through open competition. Similarly, 109 positions have been set aside for children of police personnel who were killed or disabled in the line of duty, 768 for indigenous nationalities, 672 for Madhesis, 480 for women, 360 for Dalits and 121 for those from government designated ‘backward’ regions. The officials said the opportunity to go on lucrative UN peacekeeping missions and ‘’secure’’ their future through a permanent job have encouraged people to join the police service. According to a recent figure by the Central Bureau of Statistics, unemployment rate stands at 3.6 per cent in Nepal. But another 10.8 per cent of people of working age group, who are economically active, are unemployed. Similarly, 3.7 per cent of the economically active population of working age are in jobs that do not match their skills and another 2.8 per cent are earning less as compared to their skills. A person who has worked for at least an hour in a week is considered as employed. This definition has led to recording of lower unemployment rates in developing countries.