DNA EXCLUSIVE: 8 hour shift a milestone decision has impacted the cops at large, say Mumbai police

"Couple of years back, when I was posted at Deonar police station as a constable, I saw what are the ways in which other organizations are functioning and how the manpower is being used and managed in an efficient way which benefits both in the interest of the organization and all the workers. We as police are actually public servants working always for the people in the city, so how the police force too could be managed was the main driving reason which gave me a thought of '8 Hrs Dream of Police'," said police constable Ravindra Patil, the instrumental officer who attempted in regularising the project regarding working hours at all police stations across Mumbai to three shifts of 8 hours each which has recently completed 1000 days of its implementation.

Patil, who had first proposed the project to the then police commissioner Dattatray Padsalgikar said that the ground level staffs of all the police stations which mostly includes constabulary rank officials and especially the Women Police Constables (WPC) were getting affected by the long hours of duty which directly had its repercussions on factors like accumulation of mental stress of the tiring duty, lack of attention towards home affairs, rising medical issues due to stress and hypertension.

Patil's strategic report when landed on the table of Padsalgikar, was seen possible for implementation after he was later summoned by the police chief to give a detailed presentation.

"My previous attempts of sharing the idea with successive commissioners was not acknowledged but in 2016, a ray of hope was finally visible after my 73-page letter was read by Padsalgikar sir and I was asked to explore the idea so that it could be adopted city wide. A committee was formed and I was included in it. Series of meetings and productive brainstorming finally made the plan work into action on May 05, 2016 where the eight-hour shift system was implemented on experimental basis at Deonar police station. This was a major positive reform introduced in more than a century old history of Mumbai police and it still continues even today," said Patil while speaking to DNA.

After the new energetic and morale boosting wave was started from the police headquarters, slowly almost all police station of the city came under the proposal purview with following the time phase of more than two years.

While giving a detailed report of the progress of the project, Joint Commissioner of Police, administration, Santosh Rastogi told DNA, "The project envisioned by then police chief and current chief Subodh Jaiswal sir is successfully implemented across total 93 police stations of the city where the main beneficiaries are the ground level staffs including the constables. Before this, the officers used to work under shifts of 12 hours each which would frequently reach up to 18- 20 hours depending on the intensity of work pressure. The new shift has brought positive changes in the entire police force and especially the women staffs who also have to pay attention at their homes, kids and other family members. We are also getting good reports regarding the health condition of the police staffs and we are very confident that this has yield better outcomes in terms of overall performance as officers are working with fresh minds which makes them more alert and sharp while performing duty,"

The main focus while executing the project was keeping those officers in mind who have not been allotted residence by the government or those who stay very far from where they have been stationed, Rastogi said. Excluding the local armed forces unit of the police and senior level officers, the project is working across all other units covering the constables and Assistant Police Inspectors (API) rank officials.

Meanwhile Deputy Commissioner of Police, operations, Manjunath Singe told that sometimes the shift gets delayed by 30 minutes but the move has been welcomed by the police officers in an enthusiastic manner. "Management at bandobast duty, VIP movement, controlling an emergency situations and detection of crucial cases requires manpower and at those times, the shifts are adjusted sometimes. We are happy to say that the project has impacted around 45,000 constables of the city and senior officials are also working more in order to beautify this project in future," said Singe.

REACTION FROM CONSTABLES

"The eight-hour shift project completing total 1000 days is like a milestone achieved. The overall impact has not just affected us health wise but also our performance has become more efficient and also we have been able to focus more on work. The move has enabled us to balance our priorities and in this way we shall be able to serve the public more better," said constable Sunil Masukde from Powai police station.

"Being a woman, I truly appreciate this move and I thank my seniors for taking the step only for our benefits. I can now focus on personal fitness, domestic chores, attention over kids, their education, attending social gatherings and family functions. Serving on duty with dedication and reaching home on time has reduced stress levels and this is a phenomenal decision," said Mahima Mohite, constable from MRA Marg police station.

POLICE INITIATIVES

Former police chief Ahmed Javed had introduced the digital idea of bringing the Mumbai police on Twitter which became so popular that even today the citizens can reach out to police direct on direct message and place their grievances.

Satyapal Singh, former commissioner came up with an idea of complaint boxes where Mumbaikars would communicate to the cops via letters. About 1,000 letter boxes were set up across the city.

Rakesh Maria had come up with initiatives for women safety and bicycle patrolling.