A PCR vehicle in Chandigarh. (Express archives)
CHANDIGARH POLICE has successfully adopted a software-based rotation-wise deployment of police personnel at India Reserve Battalion (IRB), Sarangpur, but it has been facing glitches while applying it to assign duties to personnel of the PCR wing.
The trial began last December. There are 610 police personnel, including 121 women in IRB and 558 personnel in the PCR wing of Chandigarh Police.
The decision to adopt a dedicated software to assign duties rotation wise to IRB personnel was taken after receiving numerous complaints about assigning of duties to favourite IRB personnel after charging money from them and allowing them to go on furlough (exception from being absent).
DSP Rashmi Yadav Sharma, the administrative in-charge of IRB, said, “The software was developed by Chandigarh Police. We put it on trial in December 2017 and it has been working successfully. Initially, we received a few technical problems regarding the duty roster of police personnel. An IRB personnel cannot be posted at one location for over a fortnight. And, every IRB policeman/woman takes rest for one day after every week. The maximum hours of duty of these personnel are nine hours. The list of police personnel rotate automatically and it also changed their names automatically. Apart from adopting the software to assign duties, we have also started taking multiple duties from IRB personnel. They are now being deputed at police stations, police posts, traffic nakas as well as to provide security. Earlier, IRB personnel were only meant to control agitations, rallies and protests.”
The DSP had conducted a fact-finding probe into the allegations of acceptance of money for assigning light duties and allow furlough to police personnel in exchange of money and indicted five policemen prima facie last November.
A police officer said, “The police department is not getting the expected results from the software when it is being used to assign rotation-wise duties to PCR personnel. And, there are valid reasons, too. First of all, PCR personnel are supposed to do duty only on PCR vehicles. But, due to the shortage of manpower, we are using these personnel for multiple tasks, including law and order duty, controlling protests, agitations and rallies, which brake the chain of rotation. The software was successful till the time PCR personnel were deployed only on PCR vehicles. In emergency situations, we have to withdraw the software-based deployment of duties and assign them manually.”
“Planning is also being made to introduce a software-based rotation system in the security wing of Chandigarh Police which has around 850
personnel. They were deployed to provide security cover for senior police officers, bureaucrats, judges, magistrates and also VVIPs and VIPs, visiting Chandigarh from other states,” said a senior police officer.