488 woman recruits pass out to join state police
PATIALA: Punjab Police held a passing-out parade of 488 newly recruited women constables, who underwent training at the Commando Training Centre at Bahadurgarh Fort here on Thursday. Inspector general of police (IGP), commando, Jatinder Kumar Jain was chief guest on the occasion.
Aged between 18 and 25, the constables were given basic training during the nine-month course at the centre.
IGP Jain said, “This is the first batch of women police recruits trained at the centre. The girls, from various districts in the state, joined the course in January 2016 and underwent rigorous 9-month training. They showed immense talent and devotion during the session.”
“We trained them here because we wanted to improve the quality of women commandos in the police force. They have been given indoor and outdoor training. They are capable of performing anywhere in the world,” he said.
Most of the recruits are graduates or postgraduates in different streams, including literature, political science, journalism, engineering and LLB. They have done courses of commando obstructers, weapon handling and firing at the centre. The height of the recruits ranges between 5.3 foot and 6.1 foot.
Uttam Chand, who has been training commandos for 10 years, said that he found no difference in training men or women. “They have performed very well. The young girls are talented like our male recruits.”
“Their day used to start with physical training, followed by parade, weapon and other field training. We have trained them in using various weapons, including self-loading rifles (SLRs), pistols, light machine guns (LMGs), rifle grenade, and various other weapons.”
Trainers said that the recruits will be given further training after they are selected by the officers.
Jagdeep Kaur, one of the trainees, said she aimed at becoming an IAS officer. “This was the initial phase. I feel a tremendous change in my life. Trainers were helpful and taught us about laws, which will help us in life.”
Another recruit Damanpreet, MA in political science, hailing from Fatehgarh Sahib, aims at working for the people of the state. “Most of my family members are abroad. I always wanted to work in the police force in Punjab. So, I grabbed this opportunity. Well-equipped and trained now I will work for my country," she said. Officials said that the next batch of recruits to be trained at the centre will begin from November.