The trainee constables on duty. Picture by Shahnawaz Akhtar

Giridih, May 10: Even a month ago, Vinod Mahto did not know he would have to stand in the middle of the road in baniyan and shorts to manage crowd and traffic.

In the absence of proper uniform for police constable trainees, Vinod and 336 others, including 27 women, are having a tough time for two hours every evening for the past one week.

The trainees, however, were given red cap, belt and stick — the only recognition that they are being made to wear khaki some day or other. The women trainees are a bit luckier than their male counterparts — they can wear salwar-kameez.

“I am basically a shy person and felt uneasy in such a dress to stand among peak-hour crowd, especially before women,” said Vinod Mahto, a constable on duty at Kalibari Chowk, the most crowded place of the town.

The passers-by, too, were taken aback at the lathi-wielding constables in shorts. “It was an amazing surprise for us when we saw them in half pants and baniyans. We still could not take help, if necessary, because of their unusual dress,” said Shaheen, a college student.

However, the district police chief — under whose supervision the three-month training being conducted — said it was nothing unusual.

“It is not a new thing as it is in our police manual to be in that kind of dress during training periods in training institutes. Here we have only placed the boys outside the institute at markets to do their works,” said Arun Kumar Singh, the superintendent of police, adding that it would take at least another month to get uniform for every trainee.

Hopefully their uniform ordeal will end by July 11 when the trainees will be sent for police duty to various districts.