Struggling against all odds at training camp

Shishir Kumar

The trainees at Counter Insurgency Anti Terrorist (CIAT) camp, located in Netarhat, are confused whether to rejoice the opportunity they have got or to bemoan the miserable habitat they have been allotted, which is an open invitation to sickness and calamity.In a huge camp spread across acres, the jawans are not being provided even the basic hygienic living conditions. Not a single doctor has been deputed in this camp that trains 1,000 recruits at a time. For mess arrangements, the jawans make frequent trips to the dangerous forest to collect firewood. While the concerned authorities enjoy the cool air-conditioned environs of their offices, the jawans rough it out in camps. They have been at the mercy of the elements for the past two years, answering the call of duty along with battling heat, cold wave, rain and the killer mosquitoes.“There is just one open pond in the whole campus that is used for multifarious purposes,” informed a new recruit. The 1,000 jawans here drink water from the open pond as there is no other source of water. The food is also prepared from the same water, not to mention the usage for daily ablutions.“We have sent request for making alternate drinking water arrangement. The official process in on and we may soon have some arrangements,” Sergeant Baban Singh, camp in-charge told The Pioneer.The State police has a record of losing jawans to malaria and other water-borne diseases every year. But the callous department has not just ‘arranged’ a breeding ground for mosquitoes in the camp in the form of the open pond, but also has facilitated death by not providing any medical facilities.In the absence of proper toilets, the jawans make do with the open space around. Given the insalubrious surroundings and unhygienic conditions, no doctor has ever joined this camp. The nearest doctor is some 30 kilometres away in the city and it takes 1.5 hours to reach him.“In case any of our cadets fall ill, we will have to take him to Gumla. We need to travel through odd routes to reach that place. Even if there is simple health trouble there is nobody to give medical aid and advice,” informed another jawan.Singh, however, justifying the matter said that the department did appoint doctors for the camp. “The place has a notorious image due to Naxalites and is also far away from the urban population. Even after appointments, the doctors do not turn up,” he added.In the past two years no arrangement has been made for cooking daily meals. The camp always witnesses mild clashes over allotment of duty on who would go into the forest to collect wood for fuel. The concerned authorities by neglecting this aspect are not only aiding in deforestation but also risking the lives of the jawan.The only connect these people have with the outer world is the police wireless set. In case of emergency or for talking to the family, the jawans go the local market or into the forest with their cell phones to make call - which is again a grave risk.Sitting in the dense forest, where they live all the year in tents, waiting for electricity, a constable hopefully remarked: “We hope at least the condition of some of us will get better as we move into the hostel building that is being constructed.”