Police college trainees boycott Chinese goods, uninstall apps

Hyderabad: At a time when debates on banning Chinese goods and apps are on, a police training college in Karimnagar, Telangana, has suggested to its trainees to ban Chinese products and delete mobile apps developed by the neighbouring country. The college imparts training to directly recruited constables and head constables and assistant sub-inspector promotees.

Principal in-charge of the college G Chandramohan said though there is no official order to keep off Chinese products or to delete apps, the trainees are boycotting those goods after the recent killing of Indian soldiers, including Colonel Satish Babu, by the troops of the neighbouring nation.

“There was a banner also put up at the entrance of the college saying “Chinese apps, products are prohibited in this college. There is no official order to ban products or apps. But we are sensitising our cadets to the importance of keeping hands off the Chinese goods which will increase the sales of domestic products. We feel that buying Chinese goods will strengthen their economy. We have witnessed what they have done to our soldiers recently in the Galwan Valley, the official said.

He said besides that, the college is sensitising its cadets to cruelty against animals and the importance of a plastic-free environment. The training college currently has 880 trainees and about 150 staff and the majority of them has deleted Chinese apps from their phones, he said.

We cannot stop anyone from buying Chinese goods if they wish to. But our intention is to discourage them, he further said. The death of 20 Indian Army personnel has triggered a countrywide debate on the boycott.

There were sporadic incidents of agitations demanding the Centre to ban goods made in that country. Union Minister Ramdas Athawale had, on Friday, called for a ban on TikTok to impact China economically, saying 15 crore Indians use the Chinese app and the foreign country makes profits running into crores of rupees.