The treatment of personnel of the Goa Police Reserve Battalion that was deputed to Uttar Pradesh to maintain law and order as part of the polling process has exposed the apathetic manner in which the powers that be treat our young men who join the forces. Images released by the Congress have shown that the constables were made to travel from Goa to Uttar Pradesh by bus -- a distance of more than 2,000 kilometres which took more than three days -- that not only left them sleep-deprived and fatigued but with little in the way of amenities for resting and bathing and in conditions far from desirable. The buses in which they were packed in were not particularly equipped for a long journey and instead are generally used for shorter journeys and are liable to the elements and inclement weather along the way.
What’s perplexing is the complete lack of planning or sympathy shown on the part of the authorities who could just as easily have arranged for them to be transported by train from Goa to Uttar Pradesh had things been planned adequately. Instead, we have a situation in which no one is willing to come forward and own up for the mess up and will claim that when one signs up to join the force one is expected to encounter hardships and difficult situations along the way.
It would be a fair argument to make if the situation genuinely called for the policemen to be facing difficulties and inconveniences on account of an unforeseen situation or an emerging and rapidly changing situation. Instead, this has come to pass purely because of a bureaucratic mix-up and a complete lack of planning by the bureaucrats within the Election Commission and other authorities who assign the forces for duty to different parts of the country.
There have been reports of the reserve police forces which were diverted to Goa; they too had to face a less than ideal situation when it comes to the facilities and logistics provided to them leading to the impression that this situation more than being an exception has become the norm for police personnel. We wonder if such a situation would be allowed to persist if it was the bureaucrats themselves who would be made to undergo such poor treatment.
Being the young men that they are, the policemen will likely take it in their stride but will serve as a huge deterrent to any future bright and energetic faces that are harbouring thoughts of joining the force. Instead of being allowed to fester, such lack of planning needs to be nipped in the bud and those responsible for putting the policemen in such a situation need to be held accountable. There is too little accountability within government for the casual manner in which the policemen are assigned duty without thinking twice about the actual programme that their planning entails. And even if a senior officer attempts to fix the blame there is sufficient leeway for those responsible to pass the buck from one table to the next.
Little wonder then that the bureaucrats have it all their way and those lower down the chain who actually do the heavy lifting are given the raw end of the deal.
