'COP'ING WITH STRESS-2

The VRS escape route: Retired hurt by senior cops

The state police force witnessed the most number of voluntary retirements between 2019 and September 30, 2023.
Of the 169 applicants who sought to hang up their boots using the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS), 148 left the force, a report the state police chief submitted to the additional chief secretary of the Home Department revealed. This is the highest in the force's history.

Another 167 personnel, including officers, have applied for VRS, and their applications are under consideration. In 2023 alone, 81 police personnel sought early retirement till September: 60 retired.

Kozhikode City, Malappuram, Idukki, Kottayam, and Ernakulam City saw the most number of officers retiring early. In Thrissur City, Thrissur Rural, Thiruvananthapuram Rural, and Pathanamthitta, the numbers are relatively low.

This is the second part of the series -'cop'ing with stress - on suicides among Kerala police.
Read part 1: How many more lives to ease police's workload?

The escape route
Four of the personnel who opted for VRS had over 15 years of service remaining, while 16 others had less than 10 years in the force. As many as 128 officers, including three women, had under five years of service.

The 148 officers who took VRS included 13 Civil Police Officers (CPOs), 42 Senior CPOs, two Inspectors in charge of police stations, 47 Grade Sub-Inspectors, and 44 Grade Assistant Sub-Inspectors. There are almost nil senior officers seeking VRS.
A total of 20 Sub-Inspector trainees at the Thrissur Police Academy, too, left the job.

Harassment in Assembly
Officers on deputation to the state Legislative Assembly as Watch and Ward personnel are also not spared of harassment by senior officers.
A complaint by a group of Watch and Ward personnel mentioned the case of an elderly policeman. Considering his health, he was deputed to the CCTV Wing. His reporting officer rejected his application for leave to attend a matter related to his daughter. He approached senior officers and availed the leave.

Incensed, the reporting officer censured him and posted him at the Assembly's main gate. He collapsed at the gate after his blood pressure shot up.

Political pressure
Police officers are careful not to rub politicians the wrong way under the LDF rule. Two officers in Kollam faced action for carrying out their duties.
A local leader, who demanded the release of an accused lodged in the lockup, complained to higherups after his demand was rejected. The investigating officer gave a clean chit to the officers concerned after checking the visuals from the CCTV installed at the police station.
However, his senior officer directed him to alter the report following political pressure. An action was taken against the two officers concerned based on the altered report.

Officers in the lower ranks have to face action even based on minor complaints, putting additional pressure on them. A punishment register will be opened, followed by an investigation that lasts months. Additionally, visiting several offices will be taxing, and stress them out.

Life takes a back seat
"I will do something, and go somewhere," a policeman attached to a station in Pathanamthitta declared as a row over night duty intensified.
Realising that the man was at wit's end, his colleagues decided to enquire more about him. They found that his mother had been bedridden, and his wife was unable to handle the chores at home alone. The night duty put more pressure on the already stressed policeman.

The police association intervened, and the shifts were reorganised. His colleagues later said the intervention saved a life.
This is just one instance of policemen attending to duty 24/7, and struggling to strike a work-life balance.

Sick Passport blues
'Sick Passport' is an inhuman practice policemen assigned to districts away from home have to follow. If they fall sick while visiting home, they have to follow the practice to avail leave. They have to report to the local Station House Officer — however sick they are — and submit an application.

Often they are met with comments like "isn't this fake" or "a ploy to skip emergency duty". Still, they have to get a 'Sick Passport' and get it signed by a doctor, not below the rank of Assistant Surgeon, at the local hospital.
The 'Sick Passport' system was introduced long ago when wireless sets were the sole means of communication. Though the police have become high-tech, the age-old system still continues.

The Friday morning parade started by the British is yet another system that is still continuing. The police personnel should report at their respective station at 7 am on Fridays to attend the parade.
Hounding policemen under the cover of 'inspection' is also rampant. They are also gagged from speaking out even on social media.

The SATA harassment
The police have the daily Situation Analysis Time-bound Action — or SATA — routine. SATA involves informing the district police chief of the previous day's case details.

SATA often serves as a platform for the senior officer to openly censure, replete with expletives, his junior. The SHO will be at the receiving end if the cases are low. Police stations bustle with activity each evening to complete the 'quota' of cases. Arresting accused in previous cases is part of the 'quota-filling' exercise.

Ticket to convenience
Transfers to faraway places are the norm in the force if the policeman refuses membership in the pro-ruling party organisation. A membership in the organisation is a ticket to convenient posting and duty.
The norm mandates transfer every three years. However, an NGO Union leader has been working at the Establishment Section in the Kasaragod police headquarters for the past eight years. His major 'function' is to 'oversee' transfers across the state.

Officers owing allegiance to pro-ruling front organisation enjoy a good time at special units. There are officers continuing in the state intelligence bureau for the past nine years.

Second citizens
Certain senior officers consider discriminatory attitudes towards Grade Sub-Inspectors as their right and privilege. A Grade SI in Malappuram, who took VRS, cited an instance of discrimination.

"The police station has three patrol vehicles, one new and two old ones. The direct SI grants leave to the driver whenever he stays off duty, to ensure that the Grade SI does not use the new vehicle. We can use the new vehicle if we are adamant. But it will lead to complaints and actions, and we will be made offenders," he said.

The discrimination against Grade SIs is not confined to using vehicles alone. It extends beyond the vehicles. Night patrolling, and detaining suspects under dangerous conditions, too, are assigned to them. Several of them opted for VRS to escape the discrimination coupled with work pressure.

Reports: Jayachandran Ilankanth, Ramesh Ezhuthachan, T Ajeesh, Nahas Mohammed, V Mithran, S Akhil. Compilation: Santhosh John Thooval).