TGSP Personnel press for ‘Ek State Ek Police’ system, uniformity in police ranks

The protests that started nearly 10 days ago continue in some or the other form even as the higher ups seek to pacify angry policemen assuring a ‘Darbar’ at battalion headquarters to take their representations

Hyderabad: For the first time in the State, the Telangana Special Police (TGSP) personnel and their families are on the roads holding protests demanding that the State government implement ‘Ek State Ek Police’ system and bring uniformity in the police ranks.

The protests that started nearly 10 days ago continue in some or the other form even as the higher ups seek to pacify angry policemen assuring a ‘Darbar’ at battalion headquarters to take their representations. At the same time, the Police Department also dismissed 10 TGSP personnel from service and placed 39 under suspension. Another 21 personnel were arrested in two criminal cases registered holding a protest without permission at Indira Park.

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The TGSP, formerly TSSP, a special police unit of Telangana Police, before bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh was APSP. There are 17 battalions of the TGSP, who are assigned special duties including anti-Maoist operations, VIP security, assisting the civil police in maintaining law and order, guarding vital installations etc.

The TGSP constables are recruited through a common recruitment process alongside the civil police (local police in commissionerate or district police stations, crime detection teams and local special teams), and the Armed Reserve of the district or commissionerate who are at the headquarters. Based on the performance in the recruitment test the candidates are allocated civil, armed reserve or the TGSP. The task of civil, armed reserve and TGSP are quite different from each other. While the civil and armed reserve are mostly confined to a particular area and get to stay alongside their families, the TGSP personnel due to their work profile mostly stay away from the families.

The TGSP has a duty rooster of 26 days which is followed by four days of ‘off from work’ when they are allowed to be with their families. However, the personnel are aggrieved that they are not even allowed to meet families after completing the 26-day period and complain the duty extends up to 40 days at a stretch. The personnel complain their superiors do not allow them to take ‘off from work’ when someone is on leave or important bandobast are in place, leading to mental health issues to them and their families. The families complain of psychological issues due to the absence of the male family member.

The personnel also complain about ending the deduction of mess charges from salaries and ending the ‘orderly’ system. To redress their grievance, the TGSP men demand the implementation of ‘Ek State Ek Police’ system as practiced in other States including Karnataka. In the ‘Ek Police’ system, recruitment is done for only special police and those selected first go to special police for a period five years, then head to armed reserve for another five year period and finally shifted to the civil police. The agitating constables feel this will be helpful to them. The TGSP total sanctioned strength is around 13,000 and presently about 8,000 are serving.