Outside police personnel on CWG duty praise arrangements

NEW DELHI - The nearly 18,000 personnel from various state police forces and paramilitary organisations, drafted for security during the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, praised the accommodation and food arrangements made for them by the Delhi Police.

The personnel, drawn from Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Tripura, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland, have been put up in various schools, community centres, police stations and other police establishments across the capital.

“Accommodation was always a priority for us and we booked schools and community centres to provide them proper lodging and fooding facilities,” Delhi Police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said.

“We have always been a part of anti-Maoist operations. We have been there in jungles without food and water for two to three days. Here it is an eight-hour job and the facilities have been really up to the mark. Delhi Police has been very co-operative,” said D.R. Singh of the paramilitary Tripura State Rifles.

Singh said they have been in the capital since the last week of September and have been accommodated in a police training college.

K.T. Jansun of the Nagaland Armed Police said he and his colleagues are staying in a school. They are not facing any food problems as they have their own mess and they get the same food that they used to in their state.

“We are used to living in the worst situation but here we are living much better and the national capital is always the best location to serve,” he said.

For many of these policemen, their stint in Delhi is a source of pride for their families.

“Our school-going children feel proud of us and they tell their friends proudly that my father is on Commonwealth Games duty in Delhi,” said Manoj Kumar, from the Madhya Pradesh Police. He said they had been provided accommodation in a community centre in central Delhi.

K.P.S. Ramachandran from Tamil Nadu Police said he has been facing language problem in the capital but often Delhi Police personnel or colleagues who know the language help him out.

“We have been staying at the Police Training School in Jharauda Kalan. We have been here from Sep 29 and we have our own mess due to which we do not have any food problems,” he said.