The police officials are being mentally and physically depressed due to overwork pressure in the absence of required number of staff. A study conducted by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) observed that security officials, whether engaged in the job of traffic management or duty in police station or working for maintaining law and order, are mostly deprived of weekly or monthly holiday for refreshment.
The BPRD expressed concern that while there is 24-hour service system for the police department, no particular duration of duty is fixed for them. In several cases, it is seen that they perform their duty even more than the stipulated time of eight hours. The survey, which was conducted on 12,156 officials in 319 police districts of the country, reported that more than 90 per cent police officials stand on duty for more than eight hours. About 68 per cent inspectors and 76 per cent sub-inspectors perform duty in police station for more than 11 hours.
Sometimes, the personnel are asked to join emergency duty even after they return home from the office, the survey report rued. According to the proposal of United Nation Organisation (UNO), there should be 222 police officials against a population 1 lakh where as only 145 police are working for 1 lakh people in the country. Police association, on the other hand, expressed displeasure over acute staff crunch.
“Almost all officials are working even round the clock due to less man power. Our demand for a weekly off is pending before the Chief Minister. We are treated as though we are machines,” said Odisha Police Association president Anup Kumar Kanungo. Similarly, Home Department Special Secretary lalit Das admitted that police should be granted a holiday every week. “For stress management, they should get weekly off depending on situation so that they could spend time with their families and work stress free.”