Delhi Police give commando training to first batch of northeastern women

In a move that encourages women to be a part of Delhi Police, the first batch of 40 women from northeast India is getting trained at the Police Training Centre in southwest Delhi’s Jharoda Kalan

For the first time ever, Delhi Police are providing commando training to 40 young women from the Northeast. To become all-rounders, these female commandos have learnt to speak Hindi from their trainers.

After training, the commandos will be deployed in the anti-terrorism Parakram Vans run by Delhi Police. (Manoj Verma/ HT Photo)

“This is the first batch from the northeast (to be trained under Delhi Police). Generally, we’ve trained girls from Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. Though they’re culturally different, that doesn’t matter when it’s about commando training,” says Om Prakash Sharma, ACP, Chief Commando Inspector.

Delhi Police instructors train the 40 northeastern girls at the Police Training Centre, Jharoda Kalan.

These young women, all in the age group of 18-20 years, are new recruits in the Delhi Police force and they’ve already finished their basic one-month course. Sharma, who has been training recruits for the past 10 years, says that these girls requested him to give them advanced training following the basic course — and he has found them to be highly capable. “These Northeastern girls have completely devoted themselves to this commando training,” says Sharma. “Their day starts from 6am. The routine includes various strength-building and other activities till 6pm. Once the commando training is over, these girls will be a part of the Parakram Vans, an initiative taken by Delhi Police against terrorism.”

The Northeastern girls have shown the perfect level of fitness required for this commando training.

Wall-climbing, catwalk, high jump, shooting... the Northeastern female recruits do everything with a degree of dedication and athleticism that has amazed trainers at the Police Training Centre, Jharoda Kalan. “I have seen commendable dedication and discipline in these girls. You just need to command them and they’re ready to sweat it out, anytime and anywhere,” says Rekha Yadav, a trainer for the past three years at the centre.

Rekha Yadav, a trainer since 2014, says that the women put commendable efforts into their practice.

Yadav adds, “The girls are trained in a specific way. For the initial 15 days, we build their stamina and then we expose them to the various exercises to strengthen their individual body parts. Also, they shoot every day with different guns such as AK-47, Glock 17 etc.”

The batch has its own expectations from the training. While some recruits want to join Delhi Police, others aim to go higher and serve the nation. Porimita Sonowal, from Assam, says, “I’ve gone through basic training of a commando but felt that I should go for the advanced version. The staff are also very co-operative here. I’d be more than happy to serve Delhi Police once the training is over.”

The girls do all their training with an amazing degree of athleticism.

Kabita Sharma from Sikkim wants to bridge the gap between the two regions: North India and the Northeast. “We’re treated differently at a lot of places within India. It’s because of the minimum participation of Northeasterners in various [aspects] of India. After the training, I’ll join Delhi Police and will try to bridge the gap between the two communities.”

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