Chhattisgarh to act tough on cops avoiding Bastar posting

With the reluctance of police personnel towards posting in Naxalite areas, Chhattisgarh Government is now gearing...

With the reluctance of police personnel towards posting in Naxalite areas, Chhattisgarh Government is now gearing up to act tough against those who avoid joining duties in the tribal Bastar region.

Police personnel at all levels are averse towards their posting in Naxalite areas, particularly in Dantewada, Bijapur, Narayanpur, Bastar and Kanker districts, which have become a hotbed of Maoist rebels with violence and bloodshed during the last few years.

Immediately after the Police department released the list of transfers this year, Police Establishment Board was flooded with applications of those who were transferred to Bastar, requesting for cancellation or change in place of posting mainly on health grounds and other reasons. Nearly 65 per cent of the inspectors shifted to Bastar region from other districts have requested for change in posting on health grounds and other reasons while about half of the 41 sub-inspectors, including women, have sought cancellation or modification of transfer order, police sources said.

The Police Establishment Board, headed by Director General of Police Vishwaranjan, has examined these requests and took a view against change in transfer orders, except in few genuine cases of women police personnel, who have to look after their kids. Even in such cases, the option considered is to reduce the distance by changing their place of posting from the remote areas of Dantewada and Bijapur to other less sensitive places in Bastar and Kanker districts.

The Board has also refused to consider applications of those police personnel who on previous occasions had managed to get their transfers to Naxalite areas of Bastar cancelled. A number of requests, which came through other routes than proper channel, were not being considered, sources said.

8220;We have formulated a transfer policy for the Naxalite areas and transfers were done accordingly. Anyone not reporting for duty at their place of posting in Bastar region will face action8221;, said state Home Minister Ramvichar Netam.

However ruling BJP legislator Devji Bhai Patel, who raised the issue of police posting in Naxal areas during the just-concluded monsoon session of Vidhan Sabha , is not convinced. 8220;The rules appears to be applicable only for those in the lower ranks as senior police personnel always manage to get their transfers to Naxalite areas cancelled,8221; he said. A number of head constables, posted in Naxalite areas for five years, could not be shifted out as relievers were not reporting for duty, he added.