Chandigarh, February 12
The Union Government of India had not yet sanctioned the required strength of staff and a separate fund to run the Recruit Training Centre (RTC) of the Chandigarh police. Funds were being diverted from other resources and ‘unskilled’ staff was deployed on deputation from the police to run the centre.
The UT Administration had been trying long to get the sanction of ‘skilled’ staff approved from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs exclusively for the RTC. A proposal regarding this was forwarded to the ministry couple of years ago but it is still gathering dust in the files.
When contacted, Mr Varinder Singh Chahal, SSP (Headquarters and Intelligence) told TNS that the Chandigarh police, through the UT Administration, had demanded 14 personnel to be sanctioned exclusively for the RTC.
“The required strength of staff for the centre include one DSP, one Inspector, six sub-inspectors and six head constables. Presently, the staff had been deployed on deputation from the police”, he added.
In reply to a question, Mr Chahal said so far no separate funds had been earmarked especially to run the RTC. However, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs had asked the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) to study the viability of running the centre and submit the report to the ministry.
He was hopeful that keeping in view the outstanding performance of the centre, the BPRD would recommend sanctioning of a separate fund and staff to run the centre. He admitted that the funds were being raised from other resources to run the RTC.
It was also learnt that the Union Ministry of Finance had earlier objected to the proposal to sanction separate staff and funds for the RTC. Later, the matter was solved with the Finance Ministry but the Home Ministry had forwarded it to the BPRD to study its viability.
To justify their demand, the UT police had been running several specialised courses apart from regular nine-month training for the new recruits to improve the efficiency of the police.
“A series of in-service refresher courses were initiated to inculcate professionalism among the investigating officers. These specially designed one-month courses included inputs on contemporary subjects like gender sensitisation, human rights, computer application, community policing etc. apart from focussing on conventional subjects like major criminal acts, prosecution and Constitution of India”, said another senior official of the Chandigarh police.
The RTC had also conducted training programmes for the IG Reserve Company to Home Guards who had been specially trained in mob control exercises. This unique force of 67 personnel was available with the UT police to handle law and order situations that arise in any parts of the city.
