68 cops from city seek transfer to Gadchiroli
MUMBAI : Tired of the long working hours and poor living conditions in Mumbai, 68 sub-inspectors (called police sub-inspectors or PSI in department jargon) have requested a transfer to Maoist-hit Gadchiroli. With the Mumbai police facing staff crunch, all the applications have been rejected.
The Mumbai police have 2,850 PSIS at its 94 police stations and need at least 1,200 more. PSIS are part of the core of any police station in Mumbai, handling multiple responsibilities from investigation to patrolling.
“Sixty-eight PSIS from Mumbai said they wanted to be transferred to Gadchiroli. We are understaffed, with 500 vacancies in the PSI cadre. We turned down all the requests,” said Rajkumar Vhatkar, inspector general of police.
According to police sources, a majority of the applications cited hectic work as the prime reason for transfer. “PSIS from small towns in Maharashtra find it difficult to work in Mumbai, which has a very high crime rate. They prefer smaller centres such as Gadchiroli where the duty hours are relaxed,” said a high-ranking official.
Also, after serving once, the officer is never transferred to Gadchiroli in his career. Some prefer it as once they are promoted to the rank of a police inspector, they can opt for other cities or districts. “A PSI on desk duty handles a lot of complaints in a day. PSIS know that if they ask for a transfer in any other district or village, they may not get it, but it’s hard to refuse a request for a transfer to Gadchiroli,” said an officer from Mumbai police.
More than 750 Psi-rank officers,
REPORTING TIME: 8AM
DUTY HOURS: After the roll call, the sub-inspector, called police sub-inspector or PSI in police jargon, is assigned a duty.
He/she is either put on the
COMPLAINT DESK OR
At the complaint desk, the PSI has to listen to and register complaints for at least 12 hours or more.
On any given day, on an average, a police station gets 30-40 non-cognisable offences and about 8 to 10 FIRS
NO FIXED TIMINGS
In police stations such as Azad Maidan that cover government establishments, including Mantralaya, Bombay high court and VIP residences, the duty hours stretch beyond 12 hours. According to a PSI of south Mumbai police station, he has reached home on time only twice in the past one month
NO EATING BREAKS
No specified hours to eat lunch or dinner
who wrote the exam in March 2017, are being trained and will join the force in October.
“In such a scenario, it is not possible to transfer any Psirank officer out of Mumbai,” said Vhatkar.
Twenty-three PSIS from across the state, excluding Mumbai, were recently transferred to Gadchiroli.
Taking note of the trend, senior Mumbai police officers are
PATROLLING DUTY
When a police sub-inspector is assigned patrolling or bandobast duty, they have to be out on the field until 8 in the night
NEED PERMISSION TO LEAVE
After the duty hours, the PSI has to take permission from the senior police inspector to leave for the day. The permission can be denied, if his services are required.
NO CELEBRATIONS WITH FAMILY
In the police service for the past 17 years in Mumbai, a PSI said he has never been able to celebrate any festival with his family. During festivals, their duty hours extend beyond 24 hours.
coming up with ways such as an eight-hour shift to reduce stress. “Stress is an occupational hazard in the line of duty. We conduct workshops and hold yoga sessions to help relieve the stress,” said a senior IPS officer, requesting anonymity. Former Mumbai police commissioner MN Singh said, “There are housing and other problems in Mumbai. But if PSIS refuse to work, who else will do it?”