Cops earn less than skilled workers: study

Incidentally,the survey also contains a foreword by the Vadodara Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthaana,who agrees that policemen across the country including those in Gujarat face a lot of hardships and lack of facilities. “But of late,serious efforts have been initiated by the government to uplift the morale of the force by way of introducing a series of welfare measures,the gestation period of which is long,and as such,the results can be seen only in the times to come.”

Meanwhile,Shweta Jadeja said that the survey took about eight months to complete with comparative analyses of the facts and figures along with interviews of policemen through random sampling ranging from Lok Rakshaks to Head Constables of both sexes.

For this,several visits had to be made to the housing colonies of the policemen in Pratapgunj. “The selection criteria to collect the primary data were based on three heads: work environment,pay structure vis-à-vis social and professional security and benefits (allowances,accommodation,transportation and family welfare). We asked 31 questions to collect the data and backed it up with pictorial depiction of some of the benefits,currently given out by the administration to the police personnel,which shows the true status of the benefits and their dysfunctional nature,” he added.

Based on their findings,Jadeja and team offered suggestions too for the lawmakers to bring in reforms,which mainly include salary hikes of the policemen and improvement of health facilities and infrastructure. “We have offered to treat Lok Rakshaks on par with skilled labourers. Presently,their salaries are less than 50 per cent than skilled workers. If we do not take them as skilled workers,is it fair that they should be burdened with any kind of responsibility to keep vigil over the society?” Jadeja asked.

Some more findings

1. With a fixed salary of Rs 2,500 (for five years),Lok Rakshaks are paid below the prescribed minimum wages of the Government of India. For any accident during duty hours,the government does not take responsibility nor provide any support to them.

2. The personnel interviewed spoke about demoralisation and their intentions to switch to better paying jobs. Some also showed a tendency to accept bribes.

3. Since 1960,the strength of each police station in Vadodara has remained nearly the same. Thus when new departments and police stations are established,the methodology of transfers of existing policemen from one department to another is practiced,which is much debated within the police fraternity. As against the sanctioned strength of 75,000 personnel,there are about 13,000 vacancies.

4. The Gujarat State Police Welfare Hospital in Ahmedabad states that out of every 100 patients who come to the hospital everyday,half are traffic policemen with various ailments.