# 85 candidates run for 56 forest guard posts in Narmadapuram 2026-10-24T05:16:11+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet The recruitment process for 56 forest guard posts in Narmadapuram General Forest Division and STR continued on Saturday, 24 October, with a physical run. Divisional Forest Officer Gaurav Sharma flagged off 85 candidates, 64 men and 21 women, from the division office at 6 am. The men must cover 25 km and the women 14 km within four hours. Among the candidates are 14 ex-army personnel. DFO Gaurav Sharma, himself an IFS officer, is running alongside the candidates to boost morale. A forest team with vehicles is escorting the runners, and an ambulance is present for first aid. Four water points have been set up along the route. On Friday, 23 October, document verification, physical measurement and biometric tests were held at the DFO office. Of 109 shortlisted candidates, 89 appeared and 20 were absent. The physical run route for women is from the DFO office to Jasalpur and back, and for men from the DFO office to Tawa Bridge and back. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The physical run is the final stage of selection for 56 forest guard posts, a significant number for one division. Of 109 initially shortlisted candidates, 20 did not even appear for document verification, suggesting either a large pool of applicants who failed to clear earlier stages or a high dropout rate. The DFO personally running with candidates is unusual and signals an effort to keep morale high in a physically demanding test. The next step is the completion of the run results, after which the selected candidates will be appointed. ## Coverage - bhaskar.com Straight reporting of recruitment event with no government slant This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Gaurav Sharma, Madhya Pradesh Forest Department, Narmadapuram Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/85-candidates-run-for-56-forest-guard-posts-in-narmadapuram/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/85-candidates-run-for-56-forest-guard-posts-in-narmadapuram/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/