A day before he quits office, Additional Director General of Police (Special Operations) P K Jain described the last 15 months as the worst phase of Indian Police Service (IPS) cadre in Maharashtra and attributed it to policy and decision paralysis of the government. The 1981-batch IPS officer resigned on February 21, a week before retirement “to send a strong message of anguish”. “It (Maharashtra) is a state where the Home Minister (R R Patil) does not have faith in IPS officers,” Jain, secretary of the Maharashtra IPS Officers Association, told The Indian Express. He said the state did not implement policies the Association took up, including those on transfer and promotion. Many IPS officers were not assigned postings on returning from Central deputation, and did not receive salaries for more than eight months, he said. “We felt let down,” said Jain. His resignation came three weeks after Mumbai Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh put in his papers and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. Jain said he would not shy away from joining active politics if a right offer was made. He said, “Every attempt to meet the Home Minister failed. At times, we were not given a minute to raise grievances. What does this say for the morale of the force?” “Malaise runs deeper. Files never move, and recommendations were never made to the chief minister’s office. This went on for months,” he added. Even after Police Establishment Board made recommendations for IPS transfers and promotions, the Home department took over 15 months to announce new postings and the circular was issued only after Satyapal Singh’s resignation. He said State Reserve Police Force (Commandant) and Police Academy principal were usually not invited to bi-annual crime conferences. “A good officer got demoralised. What do you tell a constable who comes out of these institutes, where his senior is either condemned or seen with contempt,” he said.
