Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has warned the police higher-ups that he will not condone actions that reflected negatively on his government.
At a closed-door meeting of senior officers at the Police Headquarters here on Tuesday, Mr. Vijayan reportedly counselled officers to dispense with superfluous personnel employed as camp aides at their homes and end what the government perceived as a system of vassalage in the department.
Misemployment
Senior officials privy to the proceedings said Mr. Vijayan pointedly read out news reports that suggested misemployment of police personnel for subaltern duty at the houses of ranking officers. He noted that instances of mistreatment and abuse of subordinates by ranking officers and their families did not augur well for the State’s image. The Chief Minister appeared adamant that more police personnel be posted for public duties and less for caretaker work at official residences.
He directed officers to task police representatives with daily duty and not to free them from their official responsibilities in the name of association work.
Mr. Vijayan ordered a thorough review of the security provided to private persons, including former Ministers and retired police chiefs and judicial officers. The security committee headed by Secretary, Home, had assessed the threat perception of individuals accorded police cover and whittled down the list from more than 200 to less than hundred. The Chief Minister also wanted officers to end the custom of attaching camp aides from their previous postings to their official retinue. He was told that some officers even towed around vehicles and furniture from their old deployments to their new offices.
The Chief Minister agreed that law enforcers required the round-the-clock assistance of bodyguards and police drivers to respond to law and order emergencies. He did not want to infringe on their privileges of rank.