The police system cannot afford to continue the same policy regarding its constabulary, who form about 90 per cent of its strength and whose quality in performance determines the overall impact of the system on the public. The growing compulsions and pressure of police work will continue to make a large number of police personnel, particularly at the level of head constables and constables, interact face-to-face with the public in a variety of situations. They can no longer afford to function as mere automatons.
A job analysis by the National Productivity Council has shown that the working hours of the subordinate police officers range from 10 to 16 hours every day, seven days in a week. A survey by Tamil Nadu Police has shown that an average constable works for 14 hours every day without any respite. Long and arduous hours of work without facilities for rest and recreation, continuous employment on jobs under extreme conditions of stress and strain, both mental and physical, prolonged service in the same rank without promotion for a majority of them, constant exposure to criticism and ridicule by a demanding public, inadequate pay with no compensation for the handicaps and privation they undergo, low status and lack of involvement in planning and executing field jobs with a full understanding of the objectives set by the police organisation, etc., have all had their telling effect on the morale of the constabulary throughout the country.
The increasing educational level of the constables has sharpened the edge of their frustration. They have nothing to motivate them … and function rigidly in circumstances that require flexibility of approach and understanding of the opposite point of view.
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