Pramesh S Jain
Karnataka State Police Complaints Authority member Mohan Kumar Danappa has urged the Director General and Inspector General of Police (DG&IGP) to extend the existing KSRTC Rajahamsa bus travel facility,available to police inspectors and senior officers,to police personnel of all ranks travelling on official duty.
In a representation submitted to the DGP on Monday, Danappa said police personnel from districts such as Bidar,Belagavi,Vijayapura,Kalaburagi,Yadgir,Karwar, Udupi,Mangaluru,Koppal,Ballari,Vijayanagara and Raichur frequently travel 400–500 km to Bengaluru and back for official assignments.
He said personnel are often required to report for duty immediately after completing long-distance journeys, resulting in considerable physical and mental fatigue.
Police personnel deployed for law-and-order duties, bandobast,investigations and emergency assignments are already working under considerable pressure,he noted.
According to Danappa,the Rajahamsa travel facility is presently available to police inspectors and officers above that rank on a warrant basis.
However,he pointed out that around 80% of inspectors travelling on outside-duty assignments are provided departmental vehicles such as Boleros,reducing their dependence on the warrant facility.
“Lower-ranking personnel, including those who have served for 20–25 years as well as younger personnel, often have to undertake long journeys in ordinary buses,” he said,highlighting the physical strain caused by prolonged travel.
The representation also cited health concerns among police personnel,including back pain,physical and mental stress caused by prolonged sitting and the impact of irregular working hours and inadequate leave.
Danappa said police personnel are increasingly facing lifestyle and stress-related health problems and that instances of premature deaths before retirement were a matter of concern for the department.
He urged the police department to consider the request from the perspective of personnel welfare and extend warrant-based travel on KSRTC Rajahamsa buses to police personnel of all ranks travelling on official duty.
Danappa said the measure would improve the health, safety,physical fitness and overall efficiency of police personnel,besides improving the quality of their work.
