CHENNAI: It has been almost five months since the launch of CLApp (Complete Leave App), a mobile application launched to streamlinine the leave application process of the Chennai city police personnel. Initially made available only to the Armed Reserve police officers, with a plan to gradually widen it among other police divisions, the app is still a work in progress as many are yet to get benefitted from it.
With quotas of leaves such as casual leave, compensatory leave, medical leave, and weekly off to choose from in a selected category, the app aims to make the process of verification and sanctioning of leaves easier. It also aims to reduce the time gap between applying for leaves and their approval, eliminate chances of rejections, and ensure greater transparency in the whole process.
Though the objectives are ideal, a large section of the personnel is yet to to gain access to the system. A writer with the crime division in the city police said, “The application was launched in January, but we are yet to get access to it. I still get my leaves approved by the inspector and have to meet him in person for it.”
According to a senior police officer in the city, the app is yet to be rolled out to the Law & Order and Crime police officers. He added the app is being developed to incorporate personnel from other divisions as well, and the process will be completed soon. “There is even a discussion going on to introduce the application to officers across the State. That process will take more time.”
For the personnel of the Armed Reserve Police division in Chennai, though, the app has indeed made a difference so far. Speaking to TNIE on condition of anonymity, an officer from the division said the application has greatly streamlined and uncomplicated the entire leave application process. He said that previously, personnel from the posts of constable to special sub-inspector (SSI) had to meet their reporting officers to have their leave applications approved, amid the hectic workload. “After getting the approval, they had to record it in their diaries at the Armed Reserve Police unit office. With the app even allowing the officers to apply for different types of leaves, they need not report to the superiors in person. The app allows the sanctioning authority three hours to process and sanction the leave,” he said.
The officer said the app is working well for the nearly 7,000 personnel in the Armed Reserve Police division. “Even with the minor glitches from time to time, it has been useful in our division. When it comes to the Law & Order and Crime divisions, there are lots of data and complications.” He explained that since everyone in the Armed Reserve Police division has the same hierarchy, the leave application process has a straightforward method. With the other divisions having different police districts and different hierarchies, the process gets complicated.
“If a person gets transferred, then the data of that particular person has to be shifted to the respective station. Till then, the person cannot use the application.” All these technicalities will be worked in a few months, and the app will be introduced in the other divisions as well, he added.
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