Training facilities for M'shtra police upgraded

Against the backdrop of a drive to recruit a record 11,000 constables in the state, the Maharashtra government has spent Rs 25 crore to upgrade training facilities as the existing schools are unable to accommodate the new recruits.

Nearly 11,000 constables will be selected by the middle of this month across the state and will join training in the first week of July, police officials said today.

The seven Regional Police Training Schools (RPTS) can accommodate not more than 5,500 students at a time and the home department decided to upgrade training facilities in the districts so that the remaining recruits can begin their training, they said.

"We are re-introducing an old system of training recruits wherein they will undergo training for five-and-a-half months at RPTS and three-and-half-months at district police units," said special inspector general of police (training) Rakesh Maria said.

Under the new system, recruits will be divided into two categories "� those to undergo training at RPTS and those who will undergo training in the districts. Those who complete training at rpts will move to districts and vice versa, he said.

The system of training recruits at RPTS and in the districts was discontinued in 1994 and they were trained at RPTS alone. But with recruitments being made in large numbers, the system has been rejuvenated, Maria said.

He said additional staff required for training has already been requisitioned, while the improvement of infrastructure is almost complete.

A total of 8,961 new posts of constables will be filled by direct recruitment in the districts. Apart from this, nearly 3,000 posts against vacancies created by retirements will also be filled. The state police has also launched the process to recruit for nearly 3,000 other posts in the force including law officers and clerical staff, officials said.

Mumbai police tops the list of vacancies with a total of 1,840 posts of constables to be filled this month, followed by Thane commissionerate and Thane rural police that have a vacancy of nearly 500 posts each. Maria said this was the biggest ever recruitment process for Maharashtra Police.