THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:The barrage of criticism that IPS officers have faced over the deployment of orderlies has resulted in an unprecedented development. At the receiving end of scathing remarks for the past few days, the IPS officers, who are of the opinion that the faults of only a handful of officers are being used to malign the entire band of officers, have raised the need for ‘exposing the real beneficiaries who deploy bulk of policemen either as Personal Security Officers (PSO) or orderlies’.
There has been an unanimous demand to release the list comprising the head count of the orderlies and their place of deployment, which was compiled by ADGP Ananthakrishnan, who handles the additional charge as head of the Armed Battalion.Only 10-15 percent in the list are police officers who use orderlies while the majority of them are deployed by former ministers, MLAs, MPs and even political leaders who don’t have any Assembly or parliamentary membership.
A section of IPS officers, mostly comprising young officers, has intimated the State Police Chief Loknath Behera to ‘react to the witch hunt by releasing counter-facts,” sources told Express.They were also of the opinion that the majority of the police officers has orderlies with them in line with the functional requirement.
“Police Department functions 24x7. We have to work on public holidays and have to be alert and available during exigency. Because of the nature of jobs we require orderlies and at times camp followers at camp houses.
“Action should be taken against those who defy rules, keep excess staff with them or harass them. But all the officers should not be painted with the same brush. It’s not fair that those who really utilise the service of the policemen, be it politicians or judges, walks away untouched at the expense of the police officers,” said an officer of the level of DIG.
State Crime Records Bureau ADGP Tomin J Thachankary also echoed the same sentiments in his talk at a function organised by Kerala Police Officers Association. He said the police should not be held solely responsible for the current logjam.
“The law should be equal for the police, politicians and the judiciary,” he said.Another officer said the current controversy will do more harm than good for the department. “The way the issue is spiralling, it would end up as more counter-productive. The ultimate losers would be the public,” he said.
However, many like Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran feel the Police Department needs a big introspection. During the Police Officers Association function, he said the police have undergone a lot of change since the British Raj but there are some senior officers who are yet to be touched by the changes the department has undergone.
“Exploitation of policemen can’t be allowed to happen. During British Raj it might have been possible, but this is democracy. Even a few high-level officers are even not aware of the changes that have happened in police,” he said.