Pandemic brings counter-insurgency training in Jharkhand to a standstill

Ranchi: Training of police and para-military forces for counter-insurgency operations has come to a standstill in Jharkhand because of the Covid-19 outbreak.
The training is conducted by the Counter Insurgency and Anti-terrorist (CIAT) School, which has its branches at Neterhat, Padma, Musabani and Tendrgram, for the personnel before their induction in anti-extremist operations in the state. A team of retired Army officers is responsible for conducting the programme.
Sources said a newly inducted Seema Suraksha Bal (SSB) battalion, which was about to undergo training on the prevailing circumstances in Jharkhand, has been kept in waiting. The SSB needs to undergo a month-long training at CIAT. Similarly, the last batch of police sub-inspectors, who joined service, has undergone only a part of the training exercise before the school was shut. A large section of them is yet to undergo the jungle warfare drill. Besides, refresher courses for Small Action Teams (SAT) are also deferred.
Under normal circumstances, CIAT trains about 600 personnel in a course and around 3,000 personnel in a year. The entire training schedule for 2020 has, however, been disrupted because of the pandemic.
Colonel Khalid Khan, retired, who heads the CIAT, said, “Under the prevailing Covid-19 conditions, the risk of infection among the personnel is high. It is difficult to maintain social distancing during running, firing and several other exercises during the training. In fact, trainees have to often wrestle with each other, hence, the school has been shut.”
He said a break of four months will not impact the counter-insurgency skills of the existing police and the para-military forces. Col Khan added that his team is all geared up to start the training as soon as the government approval comes to start the school.