The Uttar Pradesh government has suspended two senior officials, including Commandant Anand Kumar and Platoon Commander Sanjay Rai, following a protest by nearly 600 women constable recruits at the 26th Battalion Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) campus in Gorakhpur. The recruits, part of the 2023 batch, staged a dharna on July 23, alleging abysmal living conditions, including inadequate water, electricity, and toilet facilities, and raised concerns over privacy violations.

A viral video showed trainees claiming they were forced to bathe in open areas due to insufficient facilities, with some alleging CCTV cameras in bathroom corridors, a claim denied by Inspector General Preetinder Singh as “baseless” after a probe. The protest, which began at 8 am in Bichhia, saw recruits block roads, demanding immediate action. Senior officials intervened, dispersing the blockade, but the women continued their sit-in near the administrative building.

Uttar Pradesh DGP Rajeev Krishna ordered the suspensions for “lax supervision and negligence,” with Additional Superintendent of Police Niharika Sharma appointed as Acting Commandant. The government also removed DIG Rohan P Kanay from the Police Training School. Promises of infrastructure upgrades, including better water storage, a high-capacity generator, and washroom partitions, were made to address the recruits’ grievances.

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Opposition leader Akhilesh Yadav criticized the BJP government, calling the mismanagement a betrayal of their “women worship” slogan. The 598 recruits, part of a 60,000-strong statewide training cohort, highlighted the campus’s overcrowding, designed for 360 trainees. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, in Gorakhpur during the protest, is set to inaugurate a new barrack tower today.

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