No forum for cops in distress
Between April and September this year alone, 16 cops committed suicide, while 84 more died of various illnesses. Four years after the State Police Reform Act was passed, Tamil Nadu is yet to form the Police Complaints Authority, leaving the men in khaki, who protect the life, limb and property of citizens, with nowhere to go for their job-related woes.
By : migrator
Update: 2017-10-26 04:53 GMT
Chennai
In the state of Tamil Nadu, which boasts of a police force of Scotland Yard calibre, there is no room for cops in distress. With the government yet to set up the state security commission or Police Complaints Authority, despite bringing an Act to this effect in 2013 based on a Supreme Court advisory, ground level police personnel still have no place to go with their complaints, except their superiors, who are often the problem.
Currently, there is no independent committee or authority to look into the grievances, which are non-administrative in nature. The only exception is the Vishaka Committee, to monitor work place women harassment, said a senior police officer.
As most of the Supreme Court (SC) guidelines on police reforms still remain on paper, many police personnel find that they have to lodge complaints with their own bosses from whom they face harassment. “Even the superiors of their immediate boss prefer to believe their immediate subordinate, rather than aggrieved persons,” pointed out an armed reserve constable. “It is not easy to handle the friction between you and your immediate boss. In such cases, one may feel isolated,” noted a senior police official from the state police headquarters, who had worked in police administration in the past.
In most of the units, policemen or women find it difficult to please their superiors. From getting leave sanctioned to receiving allowance on time or fighting the corruption within, they have to undergo many ordeals, where they always have to lock horns with the superiors.
In the existing system of grievance redressal, the Superintendent of Police (SP) of each district is supposed to meet his or her aggrieved subordinates once a week, while DIGs are expected to meet cops with grievances once a month. “We are also in the process of getting a psychiatrist attached to each district to counsel police personnel in distress,” a senior officer from the administration wing pointed out.
However, Henri Tiphangne, award-winning social activist, said, “Except for the appointment of a DGP for a period of two years, there seems to be no interest in following other guidelines by the SC.” Guidelines about junior officers and constabulary are yet to be put in place, he added.
An independent authority to look into their complaints has become the need of the hour, which is being ignored by those in power, noted another social activist. Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had given an assurance on setting up the Security Commission, but nobody is even talking about the status of State Police Complaints Authority.
Advocate Saravanan Dakshinamoorthy, who filed a petition in the Madras High court saying that the State Police Complaints Authority should have a retired judge to head it, said that the case is still pending in court.
It may be noted that last week, a Sub Inspector attached to TSP in Coimbatore posted a video on FB, detailing the corrupt ways of his superiors, before attempting suicide. Last month, in Kancheepuram, an Armed Reserve (AR) constable threatened to kill himself with a gun, after his Inspector reportedly cancelled his leave which was sanctioned earlier. Only with the timely intervention of the district SP was the suicide bid stopped.
16 police suicides in six months
CHENNAI: Between April and September this year, as many as 100 police personnel died in Tamil Nadu. Of this, sixteen were suicides. Senior police officials may see it as just a reflection of society, the alarming trend indicates that the life of a policeman is not as smooth and as glamourous as one expects when he or she joins the force.
Of the total 100 deaths, 16 were cases of suicide while 25 died of heart attack and another 35 were killed in road accidents. The not very good state of health of police personnel — be it mental and physical — was evident from the statistics prepared by a police official.
When contacted, senior police officials in the state police admitted that police work is a stressful job. “Many of them do not take a break and work without taking a weekly off, because they get an extra allowance for it. It is very necessary to take the offs and be with the family, without worrying about work a least once a week,” noted a senior officer from the administrative wing. The department is contemplating attaching a psychiatrist for counselling for any police personnel with emotional troubles, the officer added.
The men in khaki in the lower ranks claimed that many of them are frustrated because the job of a policeman on the ground does not match with the expectations one would have had, before joining the force. “Besides, the ‘non-stop duty time’ takes a toll on us. A good number of us live away from our families. The duty hours do not allow us to have a healthy diet or follow a healthy lifestyle. To withstand the stress is not easy,” said an SI, with 25 years of experience in the force.
DISMAL FIGURES
- Between April and September this year, six police personnel died of cancer
- Five more succumbed to jaundice
- Two police personnel died of kidney failure
- Five others died of various other illnesses
- One died of dengue and another, from brain fever
- Six others had attempted suicide
STATE SECURITY COMMISSION
- Its aim is to evaluate the police force’s operational efficiency, public satisfaction and observation of human rights standards
- Supreme Court’s verdict in Prakash Singh’s case in 2006 was first step in this direction
- Leader of the Opposition, Chairpersons of Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission, Tamil Nadu State Human Rights Commission, State Women’s Commission and State Minorities Commission, the Chief Secretary, the Home Department Secretary and the Director General of Police will constitute the eight other members of the Commission
- The Tamil Nadu Police (Reform) Act, was passed in 2013, but four years on, the State Security Commission is yet to be constituted
- The TN Act points to political control. As per the Act, Home Minister would head the Commission
Current status of Police: Complaints Authority As per the SC guidelines, the Police Complaints Authority – to enquire into the atrocities of police officers - should be headed by the judiciary. In the TN Ordinance, it was said that the state level authority will be headed by the Home Secretary, while the district authority will be headed by respective Collectors. This was challenged in the High Court, claiming that the Authority’s independence and ability to discharge its functions were curbed. The state government’s view on the subject was that there is no need for retired judges to head the Authority and the Act has enough scope for conducting enquiries in to grave allegations. “The TN Police Reforms Act has not followed the SC guidelines in constituting the Authority. It is in violation of SC advisory,” noted a representative of the Commonwealth Human Rights initiative.
Constables association yet to be recognised: Office bearers of Tamil Nadu Constabulary Association feel that if the top brass in the Police Department recognise their association which was registered years ago, it would have been easy to represent grievances that are general in nature. “We can represent our problems through the Association. Right now, we cannot do it because the Department is refusing to recognise it. We have been fighting for this for years, citing examples of other states. But senior officials are not convinced about the need for such an Association and claim that the existing grievance redressal system is more than enough,” noted a Constabulary Association member.
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