Hyderabad: Mid-career training for policemen seeking promotion is costing them their lives, especially in constable and head constable categories. In the last two weeks, three Armed Reserve Police constables who were undergoing training, which is mandatory for promotion, died from health complications during treatment. All three were above 50 years of age. The rules regarding promotion are largely to blame, the policemen say.
A person enters service as a constable at around 25 years of age. Promotion as per the AP police manual is usually given after four years and further promotions at three-year intervals. But, citing lack of vacancies, promotions are often kept on hold. They often open up around the age of 50 and then they must undergo a fairly rigorous training programme.
“We are trained after we are recruited. Then after 25 years, we are subjected to the same rigorous training to be eligible for promotion. This becomes a herculean task as we are already old and cannot cope with the schedule due to ill health,” a head constable from the city police said on condition of anonymity. More than 90 per cent of policemen undergoing training at the Police Training Centre in Karimnagar are aged 50 and above.
The duties of a constable are physically taxing; this impacts their health. “The government has neglected the welfare of constables. Because they are the ones on the ground, their quality of life, diet and family time is compromised and they often have health complications,” said a constable in the city.
It has been suggested that short duration refresher and fitness sessions be conducted once or twice a year, which will enable the policemen cope with more rigorous training sessions later.
While SI and above rank officers get promotions regularly, a constable has to wait for at least 20 years to be promoted as a head constable and by then he will be close to retirement.
“They are the most stressed group and most neglected. Redesigning promotion patterns and considering health issues during training can minimise this," said a 56-year-old constable who quit the promotion list.
The aspirants also are responsible
Officials involved in recruitment and training of constables say that they sometimes create problems for themselves with lack of self-discipline in maintaining personal fitness and not following health guidelines, causing health complications.
They agree, though, that in addition to the pre-promotion training, streamlined training sessions at shorter intervals would keep up the fitness level of constables and improve their health. Candidates for promotion are selected on the basis of seniority. After the pre-promotion training, a medical test at the unit level is required.
“But due to delay in regular promotions and the desire to get a promotion before retirement, they neglect this. Even the unit officer tends to be lenient about these tests as per norms,” officials reveal.
Most of the constables up for promotion as head constables are around 50 years old and many would fail the medical test, but unit officers turn a blind eye to this so that the candidate is promoted by the age of 50. This means that any serious health problem is ignored.
The intention may be good, but the results can be fatal. In the three recent deaths reported during training at the Karimnagar police training centre, one of the candidates was found to have had bypass surgery, one had undergone angioplasty to clear around four blockages in his heart, and one was a chronic tuberculosis patient, with 70 per cent of his lungs damaged.
