Andhra Pradesh Special Police resort to agitation demanding recognition of their union

For 12 days at a stretch in October, in near-mutinous acts of indiscipline, the rank and file of the Andhra Pradesh Special Police (APSP) made front page news, keeping their superiors on tenterhooks while resorting to a series of agitations. The point at issue was the demand by the Andhra Pradesh Police Non-Gazetted Officers' Association (APPNGOA) for recognition of their own union.For the last two and a half years policemen of the state have been seeking a forum wherein their needs can be focussed and their grievances ventilated. Though the Police Forces (Restriction of Rights) Rules prohibit the formation of associations, the Indian Police Service (IPS) officers have not wound up theirs. The Andhra Pradesh Police Officers' Association is said to represent the interests of the entire police force.Apparently, the constabulary would like to be represented by a body which has their interests exclusively at heart. The state Government, however, has been dragging its feet in the matter and has not given a clear-cut decision.Angry Policemen: Matters came to a head on Bakr-Id day when the state Government pre-empted a hunger strike by the leaders of the unrecognised APPNGOA by arresting them under the National Security Act (NSA). Thereupon, about 100 angry policemen, some in uniform, gathered at the city police control room in Hyderabad, shouting slogans against the top brass and demanding the release of their leaders.The news spread to the district town of Kurnool where men of the 2nd Battalion of the APSP staged a demonstration and began a hunger strike. In the next three days the agitation spread to Warangal district. .preferred-source-banner{ margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}Mustering the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) men hastily brought in from Nagpur and Bangalore - and reinforcing these with men of the Border Security Force (BSF) from Delhi - a jittery state Government put under guard 15 of the 56 police stations in the city. Constables were banned from carrying firearms and a watch was put on armouries.Constable Amarnath: Cause of death an enigmaBack in Kurnool, the men who had been agitating for some time past (India Today, October 1, 1981) refused to surrender. In a pre-dawn raid on October 14, CRPF men overpowered eight armed APSP sentries and disarmed them. During the swift operation, CRPF Constable Amarnath was killed.His demise was the signal for fresh trouble in the state, as the post-mortem report could not establish the exact cause of his death. While a ballistics expert did not rule out the possibility of a small arm having been used, the Director-General of Police M. V. Narayana Rao told India Today that only after detailed investigations will it be possible to establish the identity of the suspects and that, according to him, there was no possibility of a small arm like a pistol having been used.Said T.G.L. Iyer, inspector-general of the CRPF: "We have been assured a special investigation unit of the state crime branch will probe the matter. We are recommending the constable be given a posthumous award for gallantry."Palliatives: Even as the agitation spread. Chief Minister T. Anjiah, celebrating his completion of a year in office on October 11 with a fireworks display at the Lal Bahadur Stadium, announced a "risk allowance" of Rs 30 to constables and disclosed that the Government had, by and large, accepted the report of the three-man commission appointed to consider the policemen's demands.Said he: "Economic demands would be considered sympathetically but we will not tolerate any indiscipline or agitation by those who are to enforce the law. The striking policemen do not know with whom their leaders are talking and what sort of advice they are receiving."While on the one hand senior officers of the force have threatened their subordinates with the sack and compulsory retirement, the Government, fearing a worsening of the situation, has announced several new measures.These include the option to those over 45 to leave their present service and join the regular police: the appointment of a welfare officer with the rank of superintendent who shall be assisted by inspectors all over the stale; the holding of a dialogue with representatives of all ranks every three months and the starting of a house magazine.The recognition of unions, which is the real issue, still remains to be dealt with. It is officially conceded that the trouble in the Kurnool battalion arose because of the failure of the commanding officer to effectively deal with the problems of his men.A senior police officer told India Today: "A matter of grave concern is the growing Naxalite influence in the constabulary. They seem to be hand in glove." However that may be, what cannot be ruled out is the possibility that unless a clear-cut policy on the recognition of unions in this sensitive service is evolved soon, the authorities can never be sure that policemen of the state will not take the law into their own hands again.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Oct 26, 2013--- ENDS ---

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Andhra Pradesh Special Police resort to agitation demanding recognition of their union

For 12 days at a stretch in October, in near-mutinous acts of indiscipline, the rank and file of the Andhra Pradesh Special Police made front page news, keeping their superiors on tenterhooks while resorting to a series of agitations.

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