Covid-19 cases are on the rise among the CAPFs
Smruti D
On 3 May, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) headquarters were closed for a few days for sanitizing the premises. This came after two staffers contracted the virus.
The two staffers included a personal secretary of a Special Director General (SDG)-rank officer of the CRPF and a bus driver, who ferried the personnel working at the force’s headquarters.
The same day, 45 more personnel from the 31st Battalion of the CRPF tested positive. The count now stands at 137. Rest of the personnel have been quarantined. A sub-inspector, 55, succumbed to the virus in April.
Speaking to FORCE about this, a CRPF official on the condition of anonymity, said that there is a lack of management and that the men staying in camps have poor accommodation facilities. “They live in cramped conditions and no advance planning was done,” he informed.
He also added that the relationship between the IPS leadership and the cadre is strained and that the IPS leadership has put the blame on the director medical for this situation. “There is lack of cohesion and that’s exactly why the CRPF has to face these situations. Disgruntlement won’t be beneficial to anybody,” he said.
He believes that this is one of the many examples that proves that the IPS leadership is not suitable to head the CRPF.
After the incident, CRPF Director General A.P. Maheshwari issued directions for all Covid-19 guidelines to be followed strictly.
The Border Security Force (BSF) has recorded the highest number of cases and has in fact even surpassed those in the CRPF.On May 6, eighty-five new cases were recorded. The total number of infections in the BSF now stand at 152. Majority of the personnel with the infection are from Delhi with over 110 cases. The rest of them are from Tripura. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has 21 and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) has 13 cases. The number of cases of Covid-19 in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) have been rapidly rising in the past few days.