Beyond the Backlash

It began as a murmur but erupted into headlines—a group of women recruits at the Gorakhpur PAC Training Centre, exhausted and frustrated, publicly protested against what they described as shabby treatment during their basic induction training. Videos of the young women, many barely out of college, speaking up against their living conditions and alleged insensitivity of the training staff, quickly went viral. For a state force like Uttar Pradesh Police—often praised in recent years for professionalising recruitment and enhancing law enforcement capabilities—this was not just a setback. It was a reality check.

The government’s response was swift. Denials from local authorities were accompanied by the suspension of a senior IPS officer heading the training programme. But the deeper questions that the incident throws up cannot be papered over. How prepared are our institutions to handle large-scale intakes into the police? Can decades-old training infrastructure and mindsets be stretched to accommodate the modern needs of a diverse and increasingly gender-inclusive force? And above all, can we afford to lose the morale and trust of our newest recruits, even before they wear the uniform with pride?

There is no denying that the recent recruitment drive in Uttar Pradesh was conducted with professionalism and transparency. Over 60,000 recruits were selected purely on merit, many from rural, disadvantaged backgrounds. For these young men and women, selection into the police force was not just a job—it was a transformative milestone.

Yet, the system faltered at the very next step: basic amenities during training.

To manage the unprecedented numbers, the UP Police made an innovative move by converting PAC battalions into ad-hoc training centres. It was a pragmatic solution, but as the Gorakhpur episode shows, logistics alone do not constitute a training ecosystem. Training is not just about parade grounds and classrooms—it is about building character, discipline, resilience, and most importantly, institutional trust.

When women recruits speak of poor living conditions, lack of basic hygiene, and absence of a grievance redressal mechanism, it reveals a profound oversight. It points to an outdated, one-size-fits-all approach in a vastly changed environment. We have added numbers, but not capacity. We have recruited women, but not redesigned the space they are expected to be trained in.

This is not the first time a paramilitary or police organisation has faced the challenge of managing a massive training load. When the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) went through a similar recruitment surge some years ago, the leadership recognised early on that the traditional training setup would be overwhelmed—not just in terms of infrastructure but also in the quality of training and welfare of recruits.

Rather than expanding just horizontally, the CISF invested in systemic innovation. For the first time, it introduced structured mentoring, buddy pairing, and group monitoring models in its training centres. Each platoon of 30 recruits was assigned a senior mentor—an officer not just responsible for enforcing discipline, but also for guiding, counselling, and closely tracking individual progress. Alongside, buddy systems were created so that each recruit had a peer to lean on, emotionally and operationally.

The results were telling. Attrition fell. Grievances were reported early and resolved quickly. More importantly, the recruits felt valued—as individuals, not just as batches. The message was clear: quantity can be managed, but not at the cost of dignity and professionalism.

Such a model offers critical insights for UP Police and other state forces as they gear up to absorb large recruit intakes. The solution does not lie in merely opening more training centres, but in reimagining training itself—its structures, its culture, and its human touch.

The Gender Gap in Police Training

The Gorakhpur protests have also exposed another blind spot: our failure to adequately prepare for gender integration in police institutions. With more women being inducted—a welcome development—the training ecosystem must respond with gender-sensitive design. This includes separate sanitation facilities, female trainers and counsellors, secure accommodation, and above all, a culture of respect and inclusivity.

Sadly, many training centres across India still operate with a militaristic and masculinist approach, expecting women recruits to “adjust” rather than thrive. This not only discourages young women from joining the force but risks creating an environment where biases, insecurities, and harassment can go unchecked.

While the Gorakhpur incident has dented the image of the UP Police and cast a shadow on the government’s claims of reform, it must be seen as a moment of reckoning. The silver lining lies in the public attention it has generated—forcing policymakers, police leadership, and civil society to confront the underbelly of police training in India.

The path forward must include:

• A comprehensive audit of all training centres, with special focus on infrastructure, hygiene, and gender-sensitive arrangements;

• Institutionalisation of mentoring frameworks, drawing from the CISF experience;

• Regular training and orientation of instructors and commandants on humane, inclusive, and modern methods;

• Setting up independent grievance redressal mechanisms for recruits, preferably with external oversight;

• Creation of a training reform task force within state police departments, empowered to implement both short-term fixes and long-term reforms.

A police force is only as strong as its foundation—and training is that foundation. Recruits enter training centres with dreams in their eyes, full of hope and idealism. It is the duty of the institution to nurture that energy, not crush it under indifference and neglect.

Gorakhpur must not become just another headline in our news cycle. It must become a case study in reform—one that compels us to build a humane, responsive, and professional training ecosystem, worthy of the force we wish to create.

Because in the end, a disciplined and motivated police force is not just a matter of internal administration—it is the bedrock of public trust and democratic governance.

The writer, former DGP UP, is currently Advisor in India Child Protection at Delhi, Views expressed are personal