According to the Bureau of Police Research and Development, if 222 policemen are deployed for one lakh people, then it is possible to do eight hours of duty. According to the Chandigarh Audit Report of 2014, 629 policemen are deployed for one lakh people, which is three times more than the study report of BPR&D.
Chandigarh Police has three times more policemen than other states. Despite this, crime is not stopping in Chandigarh. The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) did a study in 2014 on the orders of the Home Ministry. It was revealed that according to the average of police across the country, 145 policemen are doing duty for one lakh people.
The study said that if 222 policemen are deployed for one lakh people, then it is possible to do eight hours of duty. According to the Chandigarh Audit Report of 2014, 629 policemen are deployed for one lakh people, which is three times more than the study report of BPR&D. In 2018, under question number 3402 in the Lok Sabha, the government was asked which DGP has implemented the eight-hour duty as per the study of BPR&D. If not, then why was it not implemented.
On this, the Chandigarh Police had replied that they do not have the manpower. Jagjit Singh, a retired havildar of Chandigarh Police, had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court regarding the audit report and the study of BPR&D, regarding the eight-hour duty of policemen of Chandigarh, Haryana and Punjab with weekly leave. Which will be heard on Wednesday.
A petition has also been filed in the Supreme Court from another state for eight-hour duty. Which will be heard simultaneously regarding the eight-hour duty of the police across the country.
Policemen remain on furlough
In the PIL, the Supreme Court was told that due to mismanagement and furlough in the Chandigarh Police, eight-hour duty is not being ensured. If there is no furlough and mismanagement, then crime can be controlled by taking eight-hour duty from the policemen in a proper manner.
12 thousand 156 police stations were included in the study
On the instructions of the Home Ministry, BPR&D had done a study in 2014 on why eight hours of duty is necessary. In this, 12 thousand 156 police stations, 1 thousand 3 SHOs, 962 IPS officers and 319 police districts, 23 states and two UTs were studied. It was found that many good countries of the world like UK’s Cantt Police, Canada’s Ottawa, United States of America, Australia, Japan and Hong Kong have provision for shift system. These countries are known for excellent policing.
Traffic policemen sent to police stations by installing cameras in Kerala
The study of BPR&D on mismanagement revealed that Kerala Police installed CCTV cameras at traffic light points and sent traffic policemen to police stations so that the policemen can do eight hours of duty, whereas in Chandigarh, along with installing cameras at every place, traffic policemen have also been deployed. If cameras are installed, then those traffic policemen can be used at the right place.
What do the Punjab Police Rules say
According to the Punjab Police Rules, the British had fixed a five-hour duty with weekly leave for the police beat constable in their colony, so that the policemen could do their duty in proper condition. The Punjab Police Rules were made by the British in 1934.
40 percent of policemen in India do more than 14 hours of duty
In a study by BPRDO, it was found that 90 percent of the police in India do duty for more than 8 hours. 40 percent of the police personnel do duty for more than 14 hours without weekly leave. Due to which not only physical and mental health is affected but the behavior of the policemen is also not good towards the people. Due to this, people are mistreated.
The petition of the constable was rejected by the High Court
In December 2019, the constable of Chandigarh Police had filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court regarding the eight-hour duty and weekly leave of the policemen, which was rejected by the High Court saying that it is the job of senior officers to look into it. After this, Havildar Jagjit Singh approached the Supreme Court regarding this matter.
