Medical care for police cadets soon

For the first time since its inception, thousands of cadets who undergo training at one of Delhi Police’s principal training facilities at any given time will finally receive proper medical care during emergencies instead of just minor first-aid.

For the first time since its inception, thousands of cadets who undergo training at one of Delhi Police’s principal training facilities at any given time will finally receive proper medical care during emergencies instead of just minor first-aid.

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A ‘well-equipped’ CGHS clinic will soon replace a single doctor and his humble first-

aid kit at the Delhi Police Training College (PTC) located in southwest Delhi’s Jharoda Kalan, which has borne witness to the deaths of at least three cadets due to medical emergencies in the last seven months.

“We have received in-principle approval for the health centre and it should be up and running early next month,” said SN Shrivastava, special commissioner of police (training and special cell).

Currently, the sole medical practitioner posted at the facility - the largest of three where officers till the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) receive training -- gets around 50 medical complaints every day.

According to figures recorded over the last four years, the makeshift clinic operating within the PTC’s premises currently and headed by a single doctor and his apprentice, treated 24,222 cadets in 2009, 20,458 in 2010, 16,811 in 2011 and as many as 18,740 last year.

The step was triggered after the deaths of three cadets, who needed immediate medical attention but arrived too late at the only government hospital located around 14 kilometres away.

This had initially forced the administration to hire four ambulances which were put on stand-by within the training facility to tackle such problems in future -- a step which was, however, too little too late.

“Medical emergencies, especially in the form of diseases such as typhoid, chicken pox, influenza, and muscle injuries are unusually at their peak during the summer. We knew we had to do something more substantial for the health of our cadets,” said Robin Hibu, joint commissioner of police (training).

Currently, home to around 845 trainees: which include 11 DANIPS officers, 106 head constables and 667 constables, which includes 37 female personnel, the CGHS centre is expected to be functional by early April.