An overwhelming majority of police personnel in India, across gender, rank and contingent, work more than 14 hours a day, but don't get paid extra, according to a recent report by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies.
The " Status of Policing in India Report 2019 " is based on a sample survey of 11,834 police personnel across 105 locations in 21 States. The survey was conducted between February and April 2019.
Over half the policemen surveyed reported that they did not get a weekly off day.
'Mean' hours
Average number of hours worked by police personnel in a day was 14, the survey reported. Only 13% personnel reported average working hours as eight. 24% of them work more than 16 hours a day.
Odisha police work 18 hours a day on average, the highest among States. Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand personnel clocked 11 hours, the least among big States.
More hours, same pay
Four of every five police personnel reported that they do not get paid for the overtime work.
The number is only marginally better for armed police, with about 8% if them reporting that they get paid for their overtime work as compared to 4% of the civil police.
Do you get paid for overtime work?
| Type | No (%) | Yes (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Overall | 80 | 5 |
| Civil police | 83 | 4 |
| Armed police | 69 | 8 |
Odd hours
Nearly one in two police personnel stay back many times after duty hours in a week. Only 8% said they never stay back. Only one-fourth of the surveyed policemen said they get a single off day a week.
But mostly satisfied
A little more than half of the police personnel surveyed reported that their salary is at par with the kind of work they do.
- Three out of four personnel reported that their work is evaluated in a neutral way.
- 70% of the personnel in Haryana agreed that their pay is on par -- In fact, they have the highest among States.
- 25% in Chhattisgarh said the same -- the least among States.
