| Sr cops' "princely" lifestyles cost state exchequer | | Many continue to illegally have orderlies, official vehicles even after their retirement | | Bharat Bhushan
ET Report
JAMMU, May 20: Even after their retirement, senior J&K cops continue to enjoy princely lifestyles at the cost of the state exchequer. Some of them have unlawfully retained four to five orderlies, who cook food for them, serve as drivers for their children and wives, clean their houses, polish shoes, bring daily use items from the market and do other menial jobs.
If the average income of an orderly is taken as Rs 15,000, the total income of five orderlies is Rs 75,000. With the pension of a few thousand rupees, a retired police officer cannot afford to waste Rs 75,000 on servants but he has been spending this "whopping" amount of money without any regret. Courtesy: J&K government.
While the orderlies get salaries from the government treasury, they work in the houses of police officers. This is ridiculous and can probably happen only in J&K, the second most corrupt state in the country.
Though all in police department know that the retired officers are not authorised to retain an "army" of orderlies, they continue to have them and utilise their services in violation of rules.
Police headquarters (PHQ) has taken the issue seriously and issued a circular, directing the orderlies serving with the retired police officers to report back or face action. "If they don't report back to their respective wings before May 24, their salaries for the months of May will not be released," police sources said, quoting the circular.
"The shortage of orderlies, as reflected in the police audit report, is mainly because several of them are working at the residences of retired police officers for the past several years," the sources added, saying, "Rule does not permit them to retain orderlies after retirement."
"Though the J&K's fiscal health is not so good and it depends mainly on the Centre for its several projects, the princely lifestyles of many of its retired and serving police officers at the cost of state exchequer are making it poorer," sources said.
What to talk of orderlies, many senior police officers of the rank of district SPs and above even continue to make misuse of official vehicles in violation of rules. It is the duty of PHQ to take notice of such matters and ensure that no one gets more than his actual entitlement but it has miserably failed to perform its this duty.
As per rule, a serving district SP is entitled to keep with him only one car and a Maruti Gypsy. While DIG too cannot keep more than a car and a Gypsy, range IGP is authorised to have one car and two Gypsies. But those, posted in militancy affected zones, can carry with them additional squad vehicles for their protection.
But these norms were not being followed by most of the police officers. While some district SPs allegedly had four-plus vehicles, some DIGs and IGPs had six to seven vehicles, a senior police officer said.
The additional vehicles were in the use of their family members. Petrol for them was also being issued by police, he alleged.
Some commandants of armed battalions too had allegedly retained official vehicles for domestic use, the officer said.
The battalions also had trucks, which were being used to transport cement, saria and other household items by some commandants, he alleged and added that a police officer (now retired) had used a police truck to carry cement and saria from a godown at Paloura to his residence somewhere at Bhatindi.
The officer said the flagrant misuse of official vehicles and fuel by this lot of officers was going on unnoticed for the past several years. They were really a burden on the state exchequer, he added.
He said Maruti cars, vans and other vehicles of a police wing were too being used by some officers for their personal use.
Some officers, who were posted in Kashmir but had their houses in Jammu, too had unlawfully retained official vehicles and orderlies for their families, he informed.
The officer felt that there was an urgent need of initiating austerity measures in police and use the money thus saved for the welfare of lower ranks and their families. |
|
