VIJAYAWADA: Representatives of the Andhra Pradesh Police Officers Association (APPOA) and senior IPS officers urged Director General of Police (DGP) Gautam Sawang to take steps to postpone the vaccination drive for the police department, which is scheduled to be held in February.
In a meeting convened by the DGP on election preparedness on Thursday and Friday, the association representatives and other senior police officers explained the hardships of the police due to the conduct of the election and vaccination drive at the same time and requested him to take steps for rescheduling the vaccination for cops.
According to sources in the department, a majority of the officers in the association and senior officials were of the view that ground-level staff participating in the election duties will face hurdles in carrying out multiple roles.
“At any given situation, the police department is the one which extends selfless service for the safety and security of the public. Around 100 police personnel died due to the virus and hundreds of others infected. Right now, police are burdened with regular duties, bandobast for Corona vaccination and the panchayat elections. Carrying all these duties is humanly impossible and we requested the DGP to take steps to reschedule the vaccination for police after elections,” said a senior official. However, a decision will be taken only after the DGP discusses the issue with the Chief Secretary.