What is the full form of PAC?
PAC: Provincial Armed Constabulary
PAC stands for Provincial Armed Constabulary. It is also known as Pradeshik Armed Constabulary (PAC). It is armed police force of Uttar Pradesh, which was created to prevent the frequent deployment of the Army during serious law & order situations. Although it was established for the State of Uttar Pradesh, it also serves across the length and breadth of the country. PAC is divided into 03 zones, 07 sectors and 33 battalions. The 33 battalions comprise 273 company, however, only 225 companies are active due to lack of manpower.
Aims and Objectives of PAC:
- To minimize the loss of life and property from natural and artificial disasters
- To offer training for rescue and relief work with the available resources in the flood-affected areas
- To offer fast relief by coordinating with other relief agencies
- To train students and teachers in schools or colleges for protection against disasters
- To provide training to units of police like PAC and Traffic Police related to rescue and relief from disasters
- To create groups of volunteers through awareness programs that can do rescue work during the disasters
It is actively involved in the rescue and relief work in the following types of disasters:
- Flood and Water Logging
- Geological and Earthquake disasters
- Chemical and Nuclear Disasters
- Biological and other accidents
PAC is an armed reserve in Uttar Pradesh posted at key locations throughout the state. It becomes active after receiving orders from the deputy inspector general (DIG) or other higher authorities in police forces.
The head of PAC is the Director-General, Provincial Armed Constabulary. It was established in 1952 before that it was called United Provinces Military Force or Uttar Pradesh Military Force. It 1952, it got its present name. Besides this, there are three zones of UPPAC that include Western Zone, Central Zone and Eastern Zone. These zones are headed by ADG/IG.
It is located as a wing of Uttar Pradesh Police at different cities of the state. Each battalion of PAC comprises 7 to 8 companies. Each company has around 200 Jawans. The PAC Jawans carries only lathis.
Major functions of PAC:
- It is generally assigned for the protection of VIPs
- To maintain peace and order during festivals, elections, sports events, fairs and natural disasters.
- It is also used to control the outbreak of labour or students unions’ unrest or protest, planned crime, communal riots.
- It also participates in anti-terrorism operations.