Police men who have worked for a long time in the plains will have to pack up and go to the mountainous parts of the State. This is what the State director-general of police (DGP) MA Ganapathy has decided. He said on Wednesday that those bogged in the plains for long would be transferred to the hills immediately. However, the senior SPs would be spared such transfers, he added. Things have already been set into motion as 37 sub-inspectors have been transferred to the mountainous districts in Garhwal range following direction of the DGP.
Observers hail the order, saying that it would dent the long-continued practice of the cops remaining posted in the plains thanks to their political and other connections. Such a practice landed the hills in dire straits as these areas, particularly the remote ones, had to grapple with staff crunch in the police department, they said. Besides, those working in the hills never get the opportunity to work in the plains, setting in a kind of de-motivation for them.
“The order would definitely augur well for policing in the hills. However, it is doubtful whether things would be back to the square one once political rule is restored, ending the President’s Rule,” said a retired senior cop who had worked for a long time in the hilly parts of the State.
Soon on assuming charge as the DGP, Ganapathy categorically said that the policemen who have not worked in the mountainous would be transferred immediately as per the newly devised policy.
looking determined to implement his order, he had said that senior police officers had been directed to prepare a list of such policemen who have not worked in the mountainous districts. Some policemen have already been transferred and more would follow in the coming days, he had averred.
Following the direction of State DGP Ganapathy, police station in-charges and police post in-charges are being transferred to the mountainous districts across Garhwal and Kumaon regions. As many as 37 sub-inspectors have been transferred from plains to mountainous districts within Garhwal region since the new DGP assumed charge. 10 sub-inspectors have been transferred from Haridwar to mountainous districts like Tehri, Chamoli and Rudraprayag while the figure stands at 27 for the cops from Dehradun district. Garhwal Range IG Sanjay Kumar Gunjyal said that the policemen who have worked for over 13/14 years in the plains or those yet to be given duty in the mountainous parts are being transferred. Earlier, around 150 constables had been transferred to the mountainous districts, he added.
Gunjyal further said that he had directed the district police heads to relieve those police officers and personnel whose names have figured in the transfer list without delay.
In Kumaon region too, the spree of transferring sub-inspectors and police personnel has been going on in full swing.Kumaon DIG Pushkar Singh Sailal said that district police heads had been directed to prepare a list of such policemen who have not worked in the mountainous districts. Transfer list of such policemen will soon be released, he added.
Notably, a large number of police officers and police personnel based in Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar and Dehradun districts have not ever been deputed to the mountainous parts of the State. They take their turns to saunter from one to the others of the three districts- Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar and Dehradun.
“This is what is detrimental to the efficiency of the police force. Top cops, acquiescing such things for a long time, let the cops enjoy creature comforts and other facilities available in the plains. They are naturally unwilling to take up new challenges in the hills. They must be forced and this is thankfully what the new DGP is now doing,” said an observer.