The protesting policemen demanded Ek Police— a policy to integrate special police personnel into regular law enforcement and civil policing.
Published Oct 26, 2024 | 3:55 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 27, 2024 | 12:47 PM
TGSP constables of Mamanuru fourth battalion in Warangal district protesting. (Supplied)
First came protests to save Damagundam forests, then came protests by students, then protests against Pharma city, and now it is the Telangana special police that is protesting against the Congress government in the state.
Even as the embers continue to smoulder in the wake of the refusal of the state government to scrap GO 29 altering reservation methods in Group I (TGPSC) mains, more protests are taking place in Hyderabad and elsewhere in the state on one issue or the other.
This time it is the Telangana Special Police (TGSP) force and their families, who took to the streets demanding reforms in the police force, with the implementation of Ek Police being the main demand.
A day after families of the constables of the TGSP forces organised a protest at the State Secretariat, the policemen in uniform staged protests at their battalion headquarters across the state on Saturday, 26 October.
The constables of the Mamanuru Fourth Battalion staged a sit-in in front of the office of their commandant while in Rangareddy, the spouses of constables staged a protest in Ibrahimpatnam. They staged a demonstration with banners—Ek State Ek Police—on Nagarjuna Sagar Road.
In Rajanna Sircilla district, the constables expressed their resentment against the commandant of the 17th battalion. In Nalgonda, a regular sub-inspector of police had to face the heat of the 12 battalion policemen as he allegedly acted high-handedly with their spouses while they were staging a demonstration on 21 October.
The TGSP force and their families have been demanding the Ek police system in Telangana, similar to the one in implementation in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, to end the nomadic nature of the job of the special police constables.
On Friday, 25 October, the anger of the wives of the special police (TGSP) spilled on the roads near the State Secretariat in Hyderabad. Carrying toddlers in their arms, they came rushing to the secretariat to make a representation to those in the corridors of power.
They wailed that this system had been keeping their breadwinners away from them for months together. They demanded that there should be a system where their spouses are posted in one place and not move once in two or three months.
Meanwhile, the special police constables also came out in a procession in uniform, taking objection to the proposal to increase the time period to 26 days from 15 days for them to avail leave.
They staged demonstrations at their battalion headquarters seeking treatment on par with the police in other divisions. The families of the constables have been up in arms against the government after a GO was issued increasing the period to apply for leave.
As per the proposed GO, the police constables, who were able to take four days of leave every 15 days previously, can now take leave of the same four days, every 26 days.
As the police forces were rising in revolt, the government kept the GO in abeyance though it has not yet scrapped it.
Telangana Special Police pic.twitter.com/qLgVn8BPRu
— Telangana Special Police (@tgspbnshq) October 26, 2024
The Telangana Director General of Police Jitender on Saturday, in a press release urged the TGSP personnel to withdraw the protests and also warned that “Indiscipline in uniform forces is a very serious matter, that attracts provision of the Police Forces (Restrictions of Rights) Act and the Police (Incitement to Disaffection) Act and liable to be penalised as per law.”
Praising the TGSP forces for doing excellent duties, especially during elections in other states, the DGP said, “System of duties in the TGSP has been in place for several decades and during the time of united Andhra Pradesh and continues after bifurcation.”
Further noting that the Police Department will consider the concerns of TGSP personnel “on merits and with sympathy”, the DGP listed out the provisions available for the police personnel including surrender leaves, comparatively higher allowances than other state police, and schemes like Arogya Bhadratha.
Urging the police personnel to return to duties, and raise the concerns in “durbars” with higher officials, he noted, “In such circumstances, it is not appropriate for TGSP personnel to protest in the streets. TGSP is a uniformed and disciplines force, and the Police department’s image must be protected.”
The Ek police that the protesting policemen and their families were referring to is a policy to integrate special police personnel into regular law enforcement and civil policing.
In Tamil Nadu, the special police after working for a specific period would be integrated into law order and civil policing. As there is no such system in Telangana, the spouses of the constables are crying for the Ek police system to eliminate disparities within the police department.
Recently, the spouses of special police constables took out a procession in Warangal and elsewhere, but the senior police officers persuaded them to call off their protest as it was not proper for them to take the “family” into the streets. Though they were very vociferous about their demand, they finally relented after assurances that their demand would be taken to the senior officials in Hyderabad.
On Friday, spouses of several battalions converged in Hyderabad. They were seen running carrying their toddlers in their arms towards the secretariat. They were stopped at the entrance of the state secretariat and were asked to return.
When they insisted on getting inside, the police detained them while some police even used a mild lathi charge to make them fall in line. The spouses of the special police poured out their grievances before the media persons about how they were being forced to live away from their spouses for long periods.
One protester was seen saying that even when her children were suffering from fever, her husband was not allowed any leave and that she had to fend for herself. Another protester wondered why there should be discrimination when the recruitment to all divisions in the police department was done with one notification and one examination.
They wanted to know why policemen in other divisions had a normal life while special police constables had to lead their lives away from their families. Another protestor cried that the special police constables were being used for menial jobs for mowing, and carrying earth and bricks. “Are they police or menial labourers,” she had asked.
The BRS threw its weight behind the agitation. Former IPS officer and BRS leader RS Praveen Kumar sympathized with the wives of the special police constables and wondered how heartless the Congress government had remained even though the women came to protest with their toddlers.
He said on X: “Another sad day in Telangana under the Congress rule. It is because of anti-police welfare policies of Telangana Chief Minister cum Home Minister A Revanth Reddy that hundreds of family members of Telangana special police had hit the roads in protest in Hyderabad along with their kids.”
పోలీసు కుటుంబాలను అత్యంత దారుణంగా అవమానిస్తున్న ముఖ్యమంత్రి రేవంత్ రెడ్డి. ఈ విధంగా చంటి పిల్లలను సంకలో వేసుకుని సెక్రటేరియట్ వద్దకు వందలాది పోలీసు కుటుంబాలు రావలసిన అవసరం ఎందుకొచ్చింది? వాళ్ల బాధలు చూస్తుంటే నిజంగా గుండె తరుక్కుపోతున్నది. అన్నదమ్ముల నడుమ పంచాయితీ పెట్టి చోద్యం… pic.twitter.com/aWqi00WjNS
— Dr.RS Praveen Kumar (@RSPraveenSwaero) October 25, 2024
BRS working president KT Rama Rao wondered when this madness would end. He said, symphysis with special police constables: “In the Congress rule, policemen beat up their colleagues and detain their family members.”
KTR further criticised the government by referring to the murder of Congress MLC T Jeevan Reddy’s follower Ganga Reddy allegedly by another Congress activist, “Congress activists murder their own Congress leaders.”
Fantastic Governance in Telangana
Police rebel against Police 👏
“Elect a clown, Expect a Circus” https://t.co/nltx3vweOx
— KTR (@KTRBRS) October 26, 2024
Not very far from Hyderabad, in Vikarabad jungles the police had used force against the residents of a village who were protesting against the public hearing for the location of the Pharma village in future on Friday.
At Rotibanda Thanda in Dudyal mandal in Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s assembly constituency of Kodangal, the villagers almost mobbed a local Congress leader A Shankar, and tried to attack him for helping the officials to hold public hearings.
They said the location of the pharma village would rob them of their livelihood. A few of the protesters tried to self-immolate, forcing the police into action.
At the end of the day, the officials returned without conducting the public hearing. The villagers tried to attack Shankar but the police sensing how volatile the situation was immediately shifted him to the panchayat office. When the protestors tried to force their way inside the building, the police resorted to lathi charges.
The Telangana government intends to set up 10 integrated Greenfield Pharma Villages across the state by investing up to ₹1 lakh crore.
Initially, they would be set up in Vikarabad, Medak, and Nalgonda. As part of the pharma village concept, modern infrastructure would be provided for land investment in pharmaceutical manufacturing and research sectors.
(Edited by Sumavarsha Kandula)
