Around 85 freshly minted Mumbai police officers have had their probation period extended after it was found they took too many holidays during training and were unfit to undertake active policing duties.
The 85 men, out of a 140 probationary police sub-inspectors posted with Mumbai police late last year, have now been attached to the Local Arms Division, where they will undergo another round of training while carrying out such tasks as escorting undertrials to courts and back.
The unprecedented step followed an evaluation process, which included performance appraisals and personal interviews with Commissioner Arup Patnaik.
"You are supposed to show exemplary discipline during the probation period and not take unwarranted leave. But these officers took leave for several months and hence the CP has decided to extend their probation," Joint Commissioner of Police (administration) S P Yadav told Mumbai Mirror.
While
absenteeism certainly was an issue, it turns out that many of them could not even march and salute properly. A source said the probationers were nowhere near the physical fitness level of a police officer and that they would be put through another round of review at the end of the extended probation. “If they flunk again, they would be dismissed from service summarily,” Yadav added.
Sources said such absenteeism was observed among probationers for the first time and is alarming. “It reflects the indiscipline among these probationers and how casually they take their jobs,” said an officer who did not wish to be identified.
The 140 probationary officers underwent mandatory one-year training at the Maharashtra Police Academy along with 700-odd more officers after clearing the Maharashtra Public Service Commission examination.
Over 100,000 candidates take MPSC examination every year. Only 10,000 of them make it to the interview level and just 1000 finally clear it. Of these 1000, around 600 are selected as probationary sub-inspectors.
In the past few weeks, Patnaik has been meeting these probationers in batches and evaluating their skills in parade, presentation before superiors and their knowledge of law and policing. The evaluation was backed by performance appraisal reports submitted by police station in-charges, ACPs and DCPs.
The state government did not send officers for training to the Maharashtra Police Academy in Nashik between 2004 and 2007 following the MPSC scam that rocked the state then. In 2007, the candidates selected as probationary PSIs in 2004 were sent to the training academy along with those selected post 2007.
