Mumbai: Police recruitment candidates get some relief but shelter, toilets remain an issue

After midday highlighted how aspiring constables from across the state were compelled to sleep on footpaths they received a little reliefmdashbut the issues of shelter as well as toilets are yet to be fully resolved While candidates have now been evacuated from footpaths and allowed by police staff to sleep inside centres this newspaper on Tuesday shed light on how thousands of aspirants were left with no choice but to defecate in the open and were not provided food and drinking waterAbout 5000 candidates are pouring into the city daily with the hope of occupying the posts of 6000 male and women constables Last week one of them Ganesh Ugale 26 collapsed and was declared dead after finishing a 1600metre raceCandidates unwind at the Marol centreOn Tuesday Joint Commissioner Administration S Jayakumar told midday ldquoAt all centres we set up a sufficient number of tents Each centre has around 70 mobile toilets and water facilities Whatever we have we have already provided them We ensure that nobody will sleep on the footpath or on the road We also have deployed DCP at each centre who are checking all the updates day and nightrdquoHowever nothing much seemed to have changed on the ground on Tuesday evening with thousands of candidates still lacking access to facilities Also the food and toilets left much to be desired according to candidatesAlso Read Mumbai police recruitment drive No option but to stay on roads defecate in openKalina campus centreA security guard at Mumbai Universityrsquos Kalina campus one of the recruitment centres instructed candidates not to sleep in front of the varsity gate and told them to repose on the ground of the Local Arms Unit LAU office barely 100 metres awayThe road outside MUrsquos Kalina campus is bare after candidates are told to go to the Local Arms Unit ground on TuesdayThe guard said ldquoThe recruitment drive organisers should deploy a coordinator to the Mumbai University gate who can guide and give information about where to sleep I have been doing their job since the evening I have been telling every who is sleeping on the footpath or road to go to the ground to sleeprdquoA candidate from Dhule said he had been sleeping on a divider ldquoThere is nobody here who can guide us or give us information Thank you for informing us about the ground being available for candidates to rest I will inform everyone to go thererdquo he saidA candidate from Ahmednagar said ldquoI was sleeping on the footpath when a police van arrived and we were told to sleep on the ground Over there there is sufficient space but limited tents in which only 100150 candidates can sleeprdquo midday also found out that there are no toilets on the ground Mobile toilets are available inside the Kalina campus but no candidates are allowed at the site before 5 amCandidates relax at the Marol centreA candidate from Nashik said ldquoWe are using nearby public toilets or answering naturersquos call outside Mumbai University The mobile toilets at the training centre should have been kept at the LAU ground In the morning every candidate wants to use the washroom This is a basic requirementrdquoMarol centreAt the Marol centre all candidates were informed not to sleep on the footpath or road and were ushered inside However the tents available at the site are insufficient and only accommodate 300 to 400 of the 2000 candidates present The rest were forced to sleep on the groundA recruiter at the centre said ldquoWe are informing candidates not to sleep on the road or footpath We are also instructing them to come here where we have arranged facilities for them Tents are available but only a limited number of candidates can sleep in themrdquoAspirants at the Local Arms Unit groundAsked about the toilet situation he said ldquoToilet facilities are there Candidates have to adjust as we can only make arrangements as per our capacityrdquo A candidate from Satara said ldquoYes today nobody is sleeping on the road Tents are limited inside the centre but we are adjusting now At least all candidates are sleeping inside the ground Itrsquos safer than being on the roadrdquoA candidate from Akola told midday ldquoWe are safe inside the centre and are getting space to sleep Around 20 toilets are available This is enough for us In the evening we were resting on the footpath but around 730 pm a person arrived and instructed us to rest in the centrerdquo Earlier there was no such guide or volunteers at the spotAuthorities evacuate aspirants from the streets at Marol on TuesdayNaigaon centreWhen midday visited this spot on Tuesday night candidates were seen in a queue till 830 pm Later they were taken inside the centre The parent of a candidate from Akola said ldquoWe arrived at the centre at 4 pm and had been standing here until 830 pm They told us to rest in line on the footpath and they would take us inside at 830 pm There are sufficient facilities and proper toiletsrdquoOutside the Naigaon centreA candidate from Ahmednagar said ldquoWe had been told to come here before 7 pm and if we came late they would not take us inside Thatrsquos why we arrived at 3 pm Till 830 pm we used a public toilet which is far from the centre But somehow we managedrdquo A recruitment staffer said ldquoThis is a police recruitment drive and candidates should be punctual Water toilets and tents are available We are not allowing any candidate who comes after 11 pm inside the centre We already informed all candidates to come before 8 pmrdquo5000No of candidates arriving daily in city70No of mobile toilets in each centre