The State government has resolved to put an end to what it views as the practice of vassalage in the police department. Stung by disclosures of misemployment of police officers for subaltern duty at the houses of ranking officers, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has demanded the presence of district police chiefs and above in Thiruvananthapuram on June 26 to discuss the issue.
The alleged assault of a police driver by the daughter of a top officer last week appears to have tipped the scales in favour of the Kerala Police Association’s demand to end what it has described as a ‘culture of servitude’ in the uniformed service.
Officials said Mr. Vijayan had sought a detailed report on the pattern of assignment of personal security officers (PSOs), official drivers, and office assistants to the offices and homes of senior officers, including retired personnel.
They said the government was in principle against the custom of employing subordinate officers to provide escort to family members of their superiors, run private errands of senior officials and their kin, including going to the market and grooming their pet dogs.
It had also frowned on the convention of battalion commanders deploying camp followers, mostly contract workers recruited through the employment exchange, to do chores at their houses. The misuse of the armed constabulary’s mess to rustle up food for pet dogs of ranking officers has also come under the State’s scrutiny.
‘Colonial hangover’
Officials said the government had conveyed to the police top brass that it viewed such practices as characteristic of colonial rule and could not condone them. They ran against the grain of the government’s political manifesto, which upheld dignity of labour.
The government wanted police staff council meetings to be revived to address personnel issues. It would rationalise deployment of camp aides without infringing on the privileges of commanding officers.
