Putting a question mark on the functioning of the top brass of the police in Madhya Pradesh, the director general of police (DGP) Vivek Johri has called out 29 senior-most police officials posted at the police headquarters (PHQ) in Bhopal for remaining absent from office or taking unduly long lunch breaks.
The officers called out are of ranks of special director general (Spl DG), additional director general (ADG) and inspector general (IG) and heads of various departments in the PHQ. Normally, about 40 officers of these ranks are posted in the PHQ, most of them being heads or second in-charge in their respective departments.
In an office order dated June 6, which is available with THE WEEK, the DGP has said that he was refraining from naming the officers, though he was aware of the names. Johri further said that he expected that the officers will themselves realise who are being mentioned in the note.
The police chief has, however, stated the number of officials who have been cutting down on the duty hours or remaining absent. The DGP’s note mentions that while the office hours for these officers posted at the PHQ is from 10.30am to 5.30pm, during the past several days, three officers have been generally found to remain absent from office.
Another 12 officers were found to remain absent from office post-lunch and 14 officers were found to extend their lunch hours to two hours or more, though the lunch hour is only between 2.00pm and 2.30pm.
The DGP has said that the officers are unavailable to take phone calls at their offices and called the situation ‘worrisome’. Johri, further in the note, has expected of the officers that they will ensure their presence in the office for the entire office time in future, give due importance to their official work and also guide subordinate officers and employees, as they are heads of their respective departments.
“It will not be irrelevant to mention that if senior officers remain absent and do not give due importance to the official work, the working pattern of the subordinates is also adversely impacted,” the DGP says in the note.