Call it R B Sreekumar’s wake-up call to police officers. Gujarat’s Director General (Police Reforms) has written a letter to the state’s IPS Association, asking members to free police from ‘‘undemocratic conventions and frivolous administrative procedures’’.On Sreekumar’s agenda: withdrawal of orderlies, a ‘no’ to what he calls ‘‘gift culture,’’ accessibility of senior police officers and transparency in administrative decisions.Stung into action, the Association met today—after three years—to discuss the letter. And according to its chief, A C Bhargava, Commandant, Home Guards, the members decided that the post of orderlies should be retained. The association plans to take up the matter with the State Government, he added.When asked why the officers did not meet for the past three years even to discuss issues like the post-Godhra riots, Bhargava said: ‘‘We were overworked.’’Sreekumar has been in news for filing a case against the Narendra Modi Government before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) and admitting the Government’s failure to control post-Godhra riots before the Nanavati-Shah inquiry commission.In his three-page letter, the officer says that most police officers are misusing their power and privileges.Terming the use of orderlies by police ‘‘a British hangover,’’ Sreekumar says the practice should be abolished as the bulk of the constabulary is drawn from economically weaker sections and is being used by police officers for getting their domestic chores done.Urging for ‘‘transparency in administrative decisions,’’ Sreekumar says there should be greater accessibility to higher-ups as this would check corruption.He has also urged for abrogation of the prevailing ‘‘gift culture’’ where senior officials are found accepting gifts from their juniors. Terming this as the ‘‘nazrana syndrome,’’ he says ‘‘flow of gifts on festivals and occasions and supply of food items and seasonal fruits by juniors to seniors give the impression of ethical degradation, and parasitism.”
