In 1992, the government of Goa instituted the Chief Minister’s Police (Gold) Medal with a clear and honourable intent. It was meant to boost morale and recognise the dedication of Goa Police personnel who, despite years of hard and often thankless service, rarely found themselves considered for national honours like the President’s Medal awarded by the MHA. The reality then was simple. Many deserving Goa Police Service officers retired without any formal recognition, while the limited number of medals from the Centre largely went to IPS officers who had the advantage of serving across multiple states in the AGMUT cadre.
The CM’s Police Gold Medal was conceived to correct this imbalance. It was an appropriate response to a genuine grievance and a long-overdue acknowledgement of the commitment of local officers who spent their entire careers policing Goa. Instituted to coincide with Goa Liberation Day on December 19, the medal carried both symbolic and emotional value.
One of its earliest recipients was DySP Santoba Desai, a distinguished Goa Police Service officer who played a key role in the introduction of the medal itself. In the initial years, the award went to officers with exemplary service records. The eligibility criteria were deliberately stringent, to separate the truly deserving from the merely visible, what we colloquially describe as knowing the difference between “gadde aur ghode”.
That distinction, unfortunately, began to blur in 2015. A dangerous and demoralising precedent was set when, in clear violation of the rules, an IPS officer was awarded the CM’s Police Gold Medal despite not fulfilling the basic eligibility requirement of a minimum of 10 years of service in Goa. There were no recommendations from Police Headquarters, and yet the medal was secured, reportedly due to proximity to the ruling regime of the day. This was not a minor procedural lapse. It struck at the very soul of the award.
Since then, it has almost become routine for young IPS officers, many with less than three years of service in Goa, to line up for this medal. The result has been predictable.
The morale of the Goa Police Service has taken a hit, and the integrity of an award meant exclusively for recognising sustained local contribution has been steadily eroded.
Victor Hugo famously said that nothing can stop an idea whose time has come.But as Shekhar Gupta once observed, nothing can stop a bad idea once it has been introduced. This dilution of the CM’s Police Medal is precisely that, a bad idea that has now acquired momentum.
A police medal is not meant to reward a single operation or a short posting. It is meant to assess an officer over time, to weigh integrity, competence, leadership and consistency across years, if not decades. In a career that spans over 33 years, a three-year posting in Goa is no basis for an overall judgment. Lobbying political bosses and claiming quick visibility cannot substitute for long-term contribution to policing in the state. If this continues, the medal will lose not just its glitter, but its credibility.
In my view, the CM’s Police Gold Medal should be reserved exclusively for Goan Police officials. Its numbers should also be rationalised. Five medals a year would be more than adequate, two for gazetted officers and three for non-gazetted personnel. Scarcity gives an award its value. Only then will its sanctity be restored.
Over the years, I have personally seen capable officers decline to even apply for the medal. Many told me bluntly that it had become less an honour and more a loyalty test to whoever occupied the chair of power. That, for any professional police force, is a deeply troubling signal.
The irony is striking. At one point, personnel of the India Reserve Battalion were denied eligibility on the grounds that only Goa Police staff could receive the medal, despite IRBn being an integral part of the department. This anomaly was later corrected. Yet, at the same time, clear violations of the rules were overlooked when it came to IPS officers. Rules, it seems, are flexible only for some.
Goa Police is a relatively young force. It should have benefited enormously from the exposure and expertise of officers from the AGMUT cadre. Sadly, that promise has remained largely unfulfilled. Many of the best officers came reluctantly or left at the earliest opportunity, their hearts elsewhere. The outcome has been adhocism in policing. Even after decades, Goa does not have a comprehensive Police Manual, a robust long-term policing plan, or a fully developed forensic science ecosystem.
This compels us to rethink the larger cadre structure. In hindsight, a Goa-Maharashtra cadre might have served the state better. We already fall under the Bombay High Court, our officers train in Maharashtra, and the socio-cultural and crime patterns along the Konkan coast are far closer to Goa than to many parts of the AGMUT region. A shared cadre, on the lines of Assam-Meghalaya, could have been mutually beneficial. Officers from the Konkan would find Goa closer to home, and Goan officers posted in Maharashtra would face fewer cultural and professional disconnects.
I am not advocating this as an agenda, only as a reflection after decades of experience. Goa should certainly not become an independent cadre, as that risks insularity and a frog-in-the-well mindset. But the cost-benefit balance of the current arrangement does deserve honest evaluation.
On the eve of Goa Liberation Day and Goa Police Founding Day, I extend my best wishes to the new recipients of the CM’s Police Medal. I also salute the service I once proudly belonged to and remain emotionally attached to. Its motto, “Shanti Seva Nyaya”, must mean more than words engraved on an emblem. For that to happen, honours must once again honour merit.
