A step closer to 8-hour work day for Mumbai police

After a gap of almost two years many from the Mumbai police could soon get eighthour duties Commissioner of Police Sanjay Pandey appointed a 7member committee on Monday to formulate dynamic duties for cops It has been given four options for duties ranging from eight hours to 24 hours which will be given to staff as per their workPolice officers will also be included in the dynamic duty chart which was till now limited to the constabularyIn 2016 the work duration for the police was brought down from 12 hours to 8 hours But as the pandemic struck to enforce lockdown rules maximum members of the force were brought onto the roads For this the eighthour shift was suspended and all policemen were given 12hour duties and 12hour rest The constables were unhappy with the duty chart as most stay far from the city and spent 16 to 17 hours every day at work and commutinglsquoWhy not for usrsquoRecently Pandey had launched eighthour duties for the women constabulary from March 8 on the occasion of International Womenrsquos DayldquoOn March 15 when he had arranged a darbar for the police at the Local Arms Headquarters Naigaon many male cops demanded eighthour duty timings too The CP then ordered the setting up of a committee to look into the demand and chalk out a road map to start a dynamic duty chart for policemenrdquo said a senior police officerldquoThe key in fixing the duty hours is the travelling point of a cop from his home to his police station This needs to be addressed while fixing duty hours so there are four different work modes available for the cops Also considering weekly offs and emergency medical applications of cops there needs to be some alternatives toordquo said another senior police officer ldquoThere wonrsquot be uniform duty hours for all the cops every cop will get duty hours as per his assigned workrdquo he added The committee has to submit its report within 10 daysldquoThe cops appointed as staff in the station house police station or different branches and administrative offices can easily get eighthour duty But those involved in detection and general work can be given 12hour duties with an option of 12hour rest like the current duty hours But those who have night shift can have 24hour rest and return to morning shift the next day For drivers and wireless operators the 24hour duty will be perfectrdquo said another policemanPlans in the works8hour duty 16hour rest12hour duty 12hour rest12hour duty 24hour rest24hour duty 24hour restThe committeeThe Committee will be headed by Additional Commissioner East Region Sanjay Darade and will have Additional Commissioner Local Arms Naigaon Virendra Mishra DCP zone 4 Vijay Patil DCP Zone 8 Dr DS Swami ACP Bhoiwada division Sangeeta Patil Senior Inspector of Sahar Sanjay Govilkar and Sr PI LT Marg Police station Jyoti Desai as members The committee has to study the different work of policemen including crime branch and other branches Constables Ravindra Patil and Pratik Sawant attached to DCP operation office will assist the committee