Write a letter to the local newspaper in appreciation of the service being rendered by
health workers, sanitation staff, police, and law enforcement agencies.
Answers
Explanation:
Opinion | A salute to the police is in order
The novel coronavirus helmets being encouraged by traffic policemen to create awareness about the dreaded disease and keep the citizens indoors during government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus in Hyderabad on March 31, 2020.
The novel coronavirus helmets being encouraged by traffic policemen to create awareness about the dreaded disease and keep the citizens indoors during government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus in Hyderabad on March 31, 2020. | Photo Credit: Nagara Gopal
Varghese K. George
04 APRIL 2020 21:08 IST
UPDATED: 05 APRIL 2020 01:20 IST
Healthcare workers, sanitation staff, those who run grocery and medical shops, government officials in general — all of them form the frontline in the battle against the novel coronavirus, but the police are in the frontline of the frontline.
Numerous instances of highhandedness in enforcing the ongoing national lockdown have caused justifiable public anger against the police across the country in recent days. Policemen have beaten up those who violated the lockdown in many parts of the country; in Kolkota a person who had stepped out of his home to fetch milk died, allegedly due to assault by the police.
Even those who are exempted from the lockdown — journalists, suppliers of essential goods and services, and patients heading to hospitals — have faced the wrath of the police in various parts of the country.
That said, this stressed time is an occasion for the public to take a more sympathetic view of our police personnel.
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Of all categories of frontline responders to the pandemic who are risking their health and lives, police personnel are the most critical.
Healthcare workers, sanitation staff, those who run grocery and medical shops, government officials in general — all of them form the frontline in the battle against the novel coronavirus, but the police are in the frontline of the frontline.
Badly equipped, overworked to the level of exhaustion, and facing the most serious threat of infection — much more than even the medical professionals — they are critical in keeping the system moving. They visit the homes of travellers and the infected, enforce quarantine, protect healthcare workers, and ensure that essential supplies move while stopping non-essential movement of people.
While we rightly outrage about the violence of the police, we must also appreciate the working conditions and vulnerabilities of these personnel in a poor country as ours. And they are out with nil or little protective gear — they wear the same substandard masks for days on end, in most places.
Status of Policing in India Report (SPIR) 2019 brought out by the Centre for Study of Developing Societies and Common Cause along with other organisations, brought out the following facts. And these are facts that apply in normal times. Imagine the extraordinary additional workload on them due to the pandemic:
— The police in India works at 77% of its sanctioned strength, or just 3/4th of its required capacity. Even at full capacity, India will be one of the weakest policed countries in the world.
— Police personnel work for 14 hours a day on an average, with about 80% police personnel working for more than 8 hours a day
— Except Nagaland, the average working hours of personnel is between 11 to 18 hours in all of the 21 States selected for the study.
— Nearly one in two personnel work overtime regularly, while eight out of ten personnel do not get paid for overtime work
— Nearly three out of five respondents from the families of personnel were dissatisfied with the government provided housing quarters
— One out of two personnel do not get any weekly off days
— Three out of four personnel believe that their workload is affecting their physical and mental health
—One out of four personnel reported that senior police personnel ask their juniors to do their household/personal jobs even though they are not meant to do it. SC, ST and OBC personnel are more likely to report this than other caste groups.
—Two in five police personnel report the use of bad language by senior officers
— Vacancies in reserved categories are disproportionately large, making the police forces particularly unprofessional when dealing with caste violence and deprived sections. There are 60% and 53% vacancies for the reserved posts of SCs in U.P. and Haryana respectively, significantly higher than the overall vacancies in those States.
Jammu and Kashmir police personnel appreciate a group of citizens who completed their qurantine and were set free by the authorities from a local hotel in Srinagar. | Photo Credit: Nissar Ahmad