A woman cop being honoured during the passing out parade at Jahan Khelan recruitment centre in Punjab. (Express Photo)
“MY FATHER was a subedar in the Army. He died when I was 18 and pursuing senior secondary class in Alwar district. He was my role model. I am at number two among three siblings. I decided to join police and applied for Chandigarh Police in 2015. Today, my dream has come true. The credit for my success goes to my late father,” said Anju Bai, a BTech graduate of Alwar district in Rajasthan.
Anju stood all-round first in the overall training among 472 recruit constables at the Punjab Police training centre, Jahan Khelan, on Thursday. A total of 472 police personnel — 230 men and 242 women — were inducted into the Chandigarh Police after the completion of their one-year training. DGP (UT) Sanjay Baniwal presided over the passing out parade at Jahan Khelan in Hoshiarpur district.
Talking to Chandigarh Newsline over the phone, Anju said, “I was very firm when the recruitment process was delayed. I never wasted my time. When the process was on, I completed my BTech in computer science with 72 per cent in Jaipur. I am glad to see that our passing out parade today was dominated by women. I stood all-round first in the overall training, my colleague Kavita stood first in outdoor classes. The Parade Commander of today’s passing out parade was woman recruit constable K M Srishti.”
Dhanvanti Devi, mother of Anju, could not attend the passing out parade of her daughter due to her health. The passing out function was attended by Anju’s elder brother. Anju completed her graduation from her village government school. A police officer said, “All important prizes were bagged by women recruits. They will give their joining in Chandigarh Police on March 13.”
Anju stood first due to her ability in overall training methods, including parade, law courses, IPS/CrPC manual and weapon training.
A total of 520 posts for constable rank were advertised in 2015. Around 2.14 lakh people had applied for the posts and 34,000 were shortlisted for the written test in July 2017.
These 34,000 candidates had struggled for at least two years for the online written test through computers, which was held in different states in December 2019.
Sources said it was the most delayed recruitment, which was advertised in 2015 and the process is being completed in 2020. Even after the online written test, there was a number of candidates, who challenged the results. They were all asked to submit their objections in February 2019. Over 1,000 objections were received and each objection was addressed. All the unsatisfied applicants were pacified with the proofs of their less marks.
DSP Charanjit Singh Virk said, “The recruitment was of 520 constables — 260 men and 260 women. As many as 472 cops have been recruited. Forty-eight others are still under training at Recruitment Training Centre, Sector 26. These 48 were given the joining letters with delay due to various reasons, including on medical grounds and verification of their documents.”
SSP Shashank Anand, SP Vineet Kumar, Sandeep Kumar Sharma, PPS, Commandant, and DSP Sita Devi too attended the passing out parade.