Accidents, suicides, health issues and COVID-19 are taking a heavy toll on the Tamil Nadu police department as at least 238 personnel have died of various causes till October 3 this year, which roughly translates into six deaths per week. 

While the numbers have been compiled by a few cops out of self-interest, their major worry was that the number was shockingly high compared to the last few years. 

“In the last five years, the number has not crossed 200. We do not have exact figures since we could not record it every year, but we know that this year’s figures are alarming compared to previous years,” said a policeman. Though 35 cops have died of COVID, the other major cause has been suicides, which stands at 37 and the same number has died of heart attack. 

A total of 45 personnel died in road accidents in 2020 so far, while 76 died of ill health. Six died of cancer, two were martyred, while one was murdered. Police personnel speaking to DT Next cited various reasons for the increase in deaths, stress being the common thread. 

“The department thinks the wellness programmes benefit us, but little do they understand that participating in them is also a major cause of stress as we know it hardly helps us cope with the work we are involved in. Instead, if the department redresses our grievances, we would welcome it,” said a constable on condition of anonymity. 

He added that to get a task done, one has to spend an entire day at the superior’s office and it will still not be over. “Most suicides could be attributed to domestic issues, but the cause could be related to professional commitments and work pressure,” the constable added. 

A 57-year-old SI of the Secretariat Colony police station succumbed to COVID-19 on Tuesday. M Babu (57) of Kilpauk police quarters, a 1984-batch official, tested positive and was admitted to Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital on August 26. After plasma treatment on September 9, he tested negative twice. However, he continued to be in the ICU as his lungs were infected. On October 3, he was transferred to a private hospital in Aminjikarai where a fresh test confirmed that he was still COVID positive. Babu died without responding to treatment on Tuesday morning. His body was taken to his hometown in Vellore for final rites. The official is survived by wife Nirmala, daughter Subashini and son Ramkumar. 

Lack of dignity at work is another factor causing stress for policemen. “Of late, a lot of engineering graduates, too, have joined the department in the constable rank either due to selfinterest or lack of job opportunities. But they are disturbed by the way they are treated by senior officials. Similarly, those directly recruited as SIs do not respect subordinates,” said a policeman. Travelling for hours and bizarre shifts and not getting grievances addressed are major factors contributing to the poor health status of policemen. “Only after the lockdown have cops started working on three shifts. Until then, it was a two-shift system and did not benefit the personnel. Now, a lot of police stations are returning to the two-shift system citing a shortage of manpower. Cops testing positive for COVID are being asked to return to duty after seven days of quarantine against the earlier practice of 14 days,” said another constable, a COVID survivor. There are a lot of grievances, including discrepancies in the basic salary structures, lack of manpower, overload of work and absence of a comprehensive pension scheme, vacancies not being filled up on the compassionate grounds, which are ailing the department. “Without addressing them, conducting welfare classes to police personnel is an eyewash,” he said. When contacted, a senior police official said, “There is no doubt that the work of police personnel is more strenuous and that is the same reason why we have a wing called Welfare, unlike other departments. The government is allocating funds for the wellness programmes and we have been conducting it on a massive scale. There are many police personnel who have reformed themselves after participating in the programmes. Also, not all suicides and ill health can be attributed to the work nature of the department. I am not saying there are no grievances at all, but we are doing our best to address them and reform ourselves.”