MARGAO
The avowed objective behind the directions issued by the Director General of Police (DGP) mandating all the police station in-charges in South Goa to perform patrolling on the roads for certain hours in a day was to give a sense of confidence to the public and make known the police presence.
The DGP’s directions assumed significance and had come against the backdrop of the cold-blooded murder of Margao’s young jeweller Swapnil Walke earlier this month, triggering public outrage.
Take note, while the patrolling has helped make known the presence of men-in-uniform in public places, the exercise has come in the way of the public interactions with the police station in-charges over grievances.
In fact, members of the public have been left to wait when they want an audience with the police station in-charges in South Goa, since the DGP’s order mandates patrolling both in the morning-afternoon and evening sessions.
Then South Goa district police chief, Mahesh Gaonkar, in his order had mandated the police station in-charges to perform patrolling in their respective police stations jurisdictions from 11 am to 1 pm and 5 pm to 8 pm every day.
With the police station in-charges, along with staff are on the field as per the SP’s order, members of the public who come to the police stations to meet the police officers, find them in a tight spot, leaving them with no option but to either wait for the return of the PIs or return home disappointed.
Making matters worse for the citizens is that the timings for the public has not been adequately publicized, inconveniencing the public.
That’s not all. Since the station in-charges are only expected to return to the police station only at 8 pm every day after completion of the patrolling exercise, sources say women may be the worst affected as they will have to wait late night at the police station for an audience with the police station in-charge.
“The DGP’s initiative to direct the police officers to go on the field for patrolling is indeed welcome. But a slight change in the timings both in the morning and evening session may help the citizens have an audience with the station in-charge with personal issues,” remarked a citizen.
Even police officials in private admit that there are people who may like to meet only the station in-charge, to explain their problems. “A minor change in the patrolling schedule can help achieve the intended objective, say instead of 5 pm, the patrolling can start at 6 pm every day,” a police officer said.
