Police personnel are without adequate protective gear: JPA

Sanjay Sahay | TNN | Apr 7, 2020, 05:00 IST

Ranchi: Expressing concern over the lack of protective gear among cops deployed in the ongoing fight against Covid-19, the Jharkhand Police Association (JPA) has demanded that the government provide masks, gloves and sanitizers to all personnel.
On Monday, JPA office bearers, led by its president Yogendra Singh, visited various parts of the city, including Hotwar, Piska More, Birsa Chowk and the Main Road, to get a first-hand information on conditions under which the personnel are working.
Singh said the government has not provided any protective gear to the police personnel so far and many of them have bought masks on their own. “Many policemen are still dependent on handkerchiefs to cover their face,” he said.
Apart from masks, gloves are also necessary for the personnel as on many occasions, they have to deal with people physically, Singh said, highlighting that even cops posted at the isolation centre in Khelgaon were not provided with gloves.
He added, “We distributed around 500 gloves among the personnel irrespective of their ranks on Monday. Masks were also given to many personnel in the past. This drive will continue in future as well.”
Singh pointed out that JPA had written a letter to the police headquarters several days ago, seeking utilisation of the exigency funds of each police station to provide protective gear to personnel engaged in the fight against the virus.
He said, “We have not received any letter from the department so far in this regard. Our personnel must be protected or else there will be acute manpower crisis in this long battle.”