Pune: Counselling for police personnel soon for better workplace dignity

PUNE: Tired and overworked police personnel should not return home stressed, they might create domestic chaos, said a study conducted by the Pune police.
The city police are trying to reduce the stress of the personnel by improving workplace dignity and arranging counselling sessions for them.

The study conducted at the police station levels revealed it is important to maintain workplace dignity and organise regular counselling of the personnel.
The study was conducted at Sinhagad Road, Alankar, Dattawadi, Warje, Uttamnagar and Kothrud police stations and all constables and officers posted here participated in the programme.
In the last one year, the police have organised 78 counselling sessions by trained counsellors to reduce the stress of the personnel. The exercise focused on understanding the needs of the personnel of the rank between constables and senior inspectors.
Deputy commissioner of police (zone III) Pournima Gaikwad told TOI, "The study found that untidy workplaces, unhygienic washrooms and other reasons were attributing to the stress level. During the counselling sessions, the personnel revealed they were unhappy with the hygiene levels at workplaces and we have decided to improve them".
"We will construct new washrooms at the police stations and will also hire services of housekeeping personnel to maintain hygiene at the workplaces", she said.
"Apart from maintaining workplace and washroom hygiene, it has been decided to start a 'buddy-sharing system' under which personnel can share their worries with their buddies," Gaikwad said.
She added, "It has been scientifically proven that if worries are shared with a friend, it reduces stress level. The police stations will have shower rooms, proper washrooms, and a green patch with music facility. They can utilise the green patch before leaving the stations. Music reduces stress level and this way they won't be carrying stress home".
"While discussing the issues with the personnel, we also realised they were having carbohydrate-heavy diet instead of a balanced one. We would try to have small canteens that will provide balanced breakfast and snacks to the personnel", she said.
"We have also asked for ideas from the constables on how to improve the situation at the police stations and on how to cope with the stress. With the help of the counsellors, the police have prepared a document on this and it will be submitted to the state DGP office in Mumbai soon", she said.
"For the facilities, the police have decided to approach companies to provide funds under their corporate social responsibility (CSR) corpus," she said.