UP govt suspends officers after women constable recruits air privacy concerns

The commandant of the 26th Battalion Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC), along with another senior official, has been suspended following a protest by women police constable recruits over alleged poor living conditions in their barracks and privacy concerns, an official said.

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Poor living conditions

A large number of women police constable recruits had on Wednesday (July 23) staged a protest at the 26th Battalion PAC campus in Gorakhpur, alleging poor living conditions and mismanagement at their training centre.

A video circulating on social media purportedly showed trainee constables saying they were forced to bathe in the open due to the lack of proper facilities.

On the directives of the Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP), Platoon Commander Rajeev Krishna and RTC (Recruit Training Centre) in-charge Sanjay Rai have been immediately suspended for failing to address the women trainees' issues promptly, an official statement said.

Official suspended

Based on initial findings and investigation, the DGP had recommended the suspension of 26th Battalion PAC Commandant Anand Kumar to the UP government for "lax supervision and negligence in duty."

The government, acting on the recommendation, suspended Commandant Kumar on Wednesday.

Additional Superintendent of Police Niharika Sharma has been given the charge of the commandant of the 26th Battalion PAC, Gorakhpur.

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Infrastructure upgrade

Following the protest, the senior officials had assured recruits that infrastructure upgrades, including additional toilets, were underway and that initial disruptions were due to technical issues.

Inspector General, PAC Central Zone, Preetinder Singh, had also denied claims of cameras in bathrooms and confirmed the suspension of a physical training instructor for using inappropriate language.

The 26th Battalion PAC campus, which serves as a police training school, has inducted 598 women constable recruits from various districts of Uttar Pradesh as part of the 2023 batch.

(With inputs from agencies)