No farewell to officers on routine transfers, says DGP Rashmi Shukla

DGP Rashmi Shukla bans farewell parties with turban, flowers & rope pulling for transferred officers, warns of strict action for violators.

Director general of police (DGP) Rashmi Shukla has decided to do away with the practice of throwing farewell parties in routine transfers when an officer wears a colourful turban and is showered with flowers while his colleagues escort him out of the police station into the government vehicle waiting outside. Sometimes, even junior officers pull the transferred officer’s jeep using a rope.

Mumbai, India - Jan. 9, 2024: IPS officer Rashmi Shukla of 1988 batch took over as the first female Director General of Police (DGP) of Maharashtra on Tuesday. She took the charge from Mumbai police commissioner, Vivek Phansalkar who was holding additional charge as DGP, in Mumbai, India, on Tuesday, January 9, 2024. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

“DGP Shukla’s circular warns of stringent action against those who get into such practice. When such videos are posted on social media either by the officer or his aides, they unnecessarily become a topic for gossip, jokes and are also against the rules and discipline of the service,” the circular issued by the DGP office on Wednesday said.

The circular further said if officers genuinely work, they won’t require such kind of praise or attention and people will always appreciate them.

It will be the responsibility of senior officers to act against the erring policemen, the two-page document said. “If at all senior officers are not aware and the video is brought to the notice of the DGP office then the superiors will be held responsible for it.”

The circular is marked to all police commissioners, superintendents of police and other units such as the anti-terrorism squad and the state intelligence department.