THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Close on the heels of reports that a police officer was suspended for allegedly refusing to bathe the pet dog of an IPS officer, attention has once again shifted to the camp followers, who are often pushed to run domestic errands of senior officials.
Camp followers are support staff deployed at police camps and battalions as cooks, dhobis, sweepers, barbers and water carriers. Though their only task on paper is to provide support and services to the police personnel in the camps, in reality, they are expected to ‘serve’ the seniormost IPS officers.
The Kerala Police employ close to 1,300 camp followers, of which 700 are working on a daily wage basis. More than one-third of them are illegally attached to the residences of the officers to carry out their daily chores. Only 30 are available for duty at the Special Armed Police camp in the state capital though 81 deployed are officially deployed there. The rest are based at the officers’ residences.
Five of them are deployed at Agastya Club — the IPS officers’ club —, one at the residence of an IPS officer under suspension and two in the house of an ADGP. Another ADGP and a DIG are keeping two camp followers each. Out of 18 daily wagers at Pulinkudi AR camp in Thiruvanathapuram, eight are posted in an IG’s residence.
From Kozhikode city camp, five followers are posted at the residence of a DIG while officers of the rank of commissioner and deputy commissioner keep three each.From Kozhikode rural camp, three have been assigned to the residence of a senior IPS officer while a junior IPS officer has got one at his disposal. Similar is the case at Ernakulam rural camp and Malappuram AR camp where three men each have been picked up to work in the residences of the district police chiefs.
Posting camp followers at the official residences of IPS officers has been affecting the functioning of the camps, but senior officers are least bothered about it, an official said.“In camps, two cooks prepare food for more than 150 inmates while certain officers keep two cooks at their residence for the same, which is strange. They have allowances to keep domestic help, but they are making use of the camp followers instead,” the official said.
The misuse of the men is costing the state as Rs 675 has to be paid daily to each follower. “The unit heads don’t cross-check where the camp followers are deployed, fearing the wrath of the officers. Some of them are political appointments,” the official added.
on ‘duty’
1,300 camp followers are employed by the Kerala Police, of whom 700 are working on a daily wage basis