A matter being heard by the Goa Human Rights Commission has brought to light the uncomfortable fact that Goa Police department’s executive staff strength will have to be doubled if the State hopes to cut the inhuman working hours of its men and women in khaki.
Goa Police led by the Director General of Police comprises around 5,300 personnel in khaki covering the field under 22 deputy Superintendents of Police, 10 SPs and one Deputy Inspector General of Police.
DGP’s submission before GHRC bore an assurance that a proposal has been moved to create another 4,629 posts in Goa Police in order to reduce the working hours to eight hours shift per cop.
However, with the recruitment ban firmly in place, the department can hardly expect to recruit the much-needed 500 posts that were advertised, let alone double the staff.
Not only is the Goa Police department understaffed, but the existing executive police staff is also overworked.
As a norm, Goa’s cops work around 12 to 14 hour shifts, which are extended to 24 or even 30 hours when a crucial case is at hand, when a chunk is deployed on VVIP ‘bandobast’ or when a large-scale event requires security cover.
Serving of stale packets of food to the cops deployed at the BRICS summit was an addition to the long list of other pressing issues which place policing amongst the most austere of callings.
Department of home and Goa Police could hope to ameliorate the staff crunch by exploring ways to adopt the pilot project presently implemented by Mumbai Police wherein police station staff is divided into three eight-hour shifts.
