Discontent is brewing among police personnel within Ernakulam rural limits over the alleged excessive workload and its accompanying stress coupled with the alleged workplace harassment by superiors.
Suicides of two assistant sub inspectors in less than a month within the rural limits are being cited as testimony to this.
According to police sources who don’t want to be identified, the situation deteriorated especially since the abolition of the Armed Reserve (AR) Camp within the Ernakulam rural limits more than a year ago. Since then, the 170-odd men in the camp were deployed at local police stations. The system was abolished during the tenure of Rahul R. Nair who was the District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural) then.
“Till then, men for special duties, strike force duty, accompanying prisoners to courts, guard and escort for VIPs were deployed from the camp. With their redeployment, men have to be spared from local stations, adding to their workload. The redeployment has not effectively increased the staff strength at stations or reduced the workload, thanks to the uneven distribution of men among local stations and the deployment of men among various other offices. Besides, many stations reserve a few men for discharging duties previously assigned to AR camp personnel, effectively reducing the number of personnel available for regular station duties,” said an official on condition of anonymity.
The revised arrangement took a toll on regular police station duties like maintenance of law and order and investigation.
“The pressure from station house officers and sub inspectors towards month-end to wrap up cases add to the woes of lower-level officers who are already stretched,” sources said.
It is learnt that the demand for restoring the AR Camp system has been raised with the authorities concerned. When asked about the abolition of the AR Camp system, District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural) K. Karthik said that he did not want to comment since it was an internal decision. “There must be some application of mind behind that decision and it is being studied,” he said.
The compulsion on lower grade officials to register cases, which is normally the duty of station house officers or sub inspectors, affecting their success in courts and then making officials concerned vulnerable to punitive action is also being cited as a major factor contributing to the work-related stress of police personnel.
