In a major relief to female police personnel in the State, the Maharashtra Government on Friday announced its decision to reduce the current gruelling 12-hour duty to a manageable eight-hour shift daily.
Maharashtra’s Director-General of Police Sanjay Pandey made a formal announcement to this effect, which was welcomed by the police and leaders across the political spectrum.
Welcoming the decision, NCP MP Supriya Sule thanked Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil for taking a “ good decision” that would help balance their family and professional lives.
“The Maharashtra Government has taken a decision to reduce the daily working hours from the current 12 hours to eight hours. This is a good decision which will help women police personnel in balancing their family and professional lives well,” Supriya tweeted.
The Mumbai Police had begun to implement 8-hour shifts in police stations after a pilot project launched in 2016 and even regular weekly offs were being given to all policemen in the city, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Maharashtra has a police force of more than two lakh personnel, including a 15,000 policewomen, spread across 36 districts.