Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, December 20 2008:
Volunteers of SPOs undergoing basic training at Manipur Police Training School (MPTS), Pangei have started staging sit-in protest from today at the school complex in protest again the long continues "unnecessary" training on them.
Reporters going there to cover the event have been bar from entering the complex.
The sit-in protest was commenced after they attended the normal roll-call of the day at the parade ground of the MPTS.
After attending the roll-call of the day, all the volunteers gathered at a place known as third barrack inside the complex with their training uniforms without attending the routine duties of the day.
They carried out the protest till 4 pm.
To cover the protest, a team of reporters from Imphal proceeded to the MPTS but the personnel guarding at the main entrance gate disallowed them to enter inside the complex and asked them to wait till the director of the train arrived.
The reporters who reached the place at around 7 am were compelled to stay near the gate till around 11.30 am as the director turned office at around the timing.
But when the reporters approached the director to give permission to enter and covered the event, he turned down the request stating that without the prior knowledge of the chief minister, he could not give permit to them.
But some volunteers of the SPO later come out upto the gate on hearing that some reporters are coming there and have interaction with the reporters.
During the interaction, they handed over a written statement which narrated the grievances facing by them due to the prolong period of training there.
They said at first they were told that the training was only for three months but now more than six months has passed but nothing apparent steps to deploy them as SPO in their village were seen taken up.
Apart from this, they added, the keeping there without knowing when the training will complete.