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Ludhiana: ‘Understaffed’ railway cops grapple with high workload
Group railway police AIG, Ludhiana, says that they despatch additional personnel as and when they receive such a request
The Government Railway Police (GRP) station at the Ludhiana Junction station is struggling to keep up with the rising workload due to the shortage of staff.
The police station, which is responsible for Ludhiana district along with the state’s biggest railway station which sees a daily average footfall of around 50,000, and has 100 personnel at its disposal, of which 30 are from Punjab home guards.
A local police officer, requesting anonymity, said that they had put off many cases snatching as they did not have enough staff available as against the complaints they receive every day.
There are two police posts and three assault posts under the station.
There are five investigating officers, and for the cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS), which make up the main business at the station, the station only had three assistant sub-inspectors.
The station recovered around a quintal ganja and over 50 kg opium last year.
Additional inspector general Amanpreet Singh Ghuman said that they regularly get requests for additional staff regularly and despatch personnel accordingly.
On being asked about the steps being taken for a long-term solution, he said that only his superiors would be able to comment on that. The Inspector General could not be reached for a comment till the time of filing of this report.
According to the officer quoted above, those present at the station were not young enough to be fit for the kind of job expected of them. “We need young, fit men to crack down on the miscreants,” the officer said.
The official said that the problem was not limited to the Ludhiana GRP station as the force had not been expanded since the early nineties. “As such, we only have the aged personnel mostly,” they said.
The station officials have been regularly requesting the higher-ups to increase the personnel strength, so that they can undertake their duties efficiently. However, the station officials said that the superiors send in four to five personnel every time a request is made, and they get transferred soon as well, keeping the problem as is.
Many officials complained that they were working over-time to compensate for the lack of manpower. According to the officials, two requests have been made for additional staff in January so far.
The station needs at least 170 men to work efficiently, the officials said.
The station has now been under renovation for over six months and is open on all sides. The officials said this has added to the security risk, specially since the general elections are just around the corner.
