The first batch of Odisha Auxiliary Police Force (OAPF), the State Government’s tribal police force, passed out here on Saturday after completing its training.
Director General of Police Prakash Mishra inspected the passing out parade of 490 OAPF jawans at the Traffic Training Institute (TTI). They have been undergoing training since February. Apart from various drills on VIP security and bomb disposal, they were imparted modules on Indian Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code.
Of those passed out, 268 will be posted in Bhubaneswar, 113 in Cuttack, 104 in Koraput and five in Gajapati.
The auxiliary force has been created by the State Government by sourcing personnel from the Special Police Officers (SPOs) who were appointed in the Naxal affected districts to assist the local force in the operation against the Left wing ultras.
In October last year, the Government had decided to pull out the SPOs deployed in 19 police districts and form the OAPF.
As many as 1,791 SPOs who had completed three years were marked to be absorbed in the auxiliary police force as constables and sepoys. The OAPF will have the same duties and responsibilities as that of the regular police and remain under command of the Superintendent of Police (SP) in a district.
Before notifying formation of the OAPF, the Government also paved the way for the Force by creating 4,855 posts. In 2008, the Government had felt that certain groups of ST communities were not well represented in the State Police Force despite reservations.
Social deprivation such as inadequate educational qualification was considered as the problem for the ST communities to get drafted into the police force. To bring them up in the social ladder, the Government devised the SPO force, as per the Chhattisgarh model, by relaxing the educational qualification to Class VIII instead of Class X and Plus Two.
Speaking on the occasion, the DGP said the PCR system will be improved and modelled on the Delhi Police. Similarly, CCTVs will be installed phase wise in the Capital.
