Calcutta police’s modernisation plan includes a potent weapon — cops with better English vocabulary.

Around 3,500 constables will return to the classroom to learn “spoken English” as part of a strategy to make a generation denied English lessons in primary classrooms more confident in a language other than their native tongue.

“We have long felt the need to improve the communication skills of the lower rungs of the force. The spoken English course is a step in that direction,” S.K. Gazmer, the senior deputy commissioner of armed police, told Metro.

Lalbazar is in talks with several institutes that offer courses in conversational English, waiting to strike the best deal possible in terms of cost per constable. “We first spoke to some institutes six months ago but the average fee being quoted was Rs 1,200 per constable for a three-month course. We asked them to divide the constables in batches and charge a lump sum but they didn’t agree,” an officer said.

The police top brass has now resumed talks with a few of those institutes in a bid to “rework” the arrangement. The plan is to set up classrooms at the armed police headquarters and train the constables in small batches. “Around 3,500 constables living in the barracks at the Bodyguard Lines will be the first to train. Each batch will be divided into groups of 50 constables. Classes will be held in the morning and evening, depending on the roster. The length of the course will remain three months,” an officer said.

The Calcutta police constabulary comprises over 10,000 constables. The minimum qualification required for a person to qualify for the post of a constable is Class VIII, but the constabulary has of late benefited from the induction of more educated candidates. “Over the past few years, several graduates and post-graduates have joined the force as constables. They definitely have better communication skills,” said an officer at Lalbazar.

So will English now be the Calcutta police constable’s secret weapon? “The key to success in policing is communication. We hope the spoken English course will help develop a rapport between the police and the public,” said Gazmer.