"Deadwood" Cops To Be Offered Voluntary Retirement: Assam Police Chief

The Assam Police have drawn up a list of over 650 personnel who are purportedly habitual drinkers or obese, and those found unfit for duty will be offered voluntary retirement after a thorough review, Director General of police GP Singh said here today.

The exercise to get rid of "deadwood" from the police will be undertaken in all organisations and wings of the force, the DGP said at a press conference here.

"We already have a list of about 680 persons. However, to ensure that no name is added without logical basis, we have formed committees in battalions and districts, which will be headed by a deputy commandant or an additional SP-rank officer," Mr Singh said.

These committees will give their reports to the district superintendents of police (SPs) or battalion commandants, who will then "after due diligence on their part" submit it to the police headquarter, he said.

The list will again be reviewed by a committee which will have people from training and armed police wings as well as law and order and administration.

The committee will then finally prepare the list of personnel who will be offered the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS), Mr Singh said.

The process of drawing up the list is being streamlined in such a manner so that "no wrong person" is offered VRS and hence, the process of finalising the names will take some time.

Those whose names appear on the list but are unwilling to take VRS will not be assigned field duty at least, Mr Singh said.

"We had a meeting with other organisations of the police and they have been directed to draw up similar lists," the top police officer said.

The total strength of the state police force is around 70,000, the DGP said.

Police officers, including IPS-level ones, have been asked to ensure to maintain fitness so that they may lead by example.

The officers have been given three-four months to get fit so that "removal of deadwood" from the lower ranks does not seem unjustified, he said.

The new recruits will have orientation focused on maintaining physical fitness, which is a priority area for Assam Police for all its ranks and personnel, the DGP said.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, at a virtual meeting with the top police brass recently, had strongly advocated for removing the deadwood from the police force - habitual drinkers, those with extreme obesity and with charges of corruption against them - to turn the force into a responsive and action-oriented one, an official statement had said.

"The government has a provision for giving VRS to them. It is an old rule but we had not implemented it earlier. This time, we have started working on it," Mr Sarma, who also holds the Home portfolio, said later. Those who will be offered VRS will continue getting their full salary and new recruitment will be done to fill the vacancies, he had said.

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