New District Police Chief bats for better work-life balance

KOCHIA study to assess workload-staff disparity in Kochi City police, aiming to approach government for more staff.

A study will be conducted to assess the disparity between workload and staff strength in the Kochi City police based on which the State government would be approached with a request to sanction enough hands to bridge the gap, said S. Syamsundar, the new District Police Chief (Kochi City), who assumed charge on Tuesday.

Speaking to The Hindu about his immediate priorities, Mr. Syamsundar said that the stress among police personnel was an area that needed to be addressed.

“The basic problem is that the force is understaffed and overworked. The staff strength is not in proportion to the workload. A study will be conducted on the issue based on which the government will be approached,” he said.

In what could be music to the ears of police personnel, Mr. Syamsundar said he was in favour of a liberal leave regime ensuring timely leave for ensuring a better work-life balance.

He said that one of his immediate priorities would be a drug-free Kochi. While Yodhav, the special anti-drug enforcement drive of the police, will continue, focus will also be given to a programme by the name ‘Unarvu.’ It basically aims at creating anti-drug awareness among school students through mediums like theatre.

“Programmes for ensuring women’s safety will also be implemented especially with regard to special protection to women employed in fields like the Information Technology and film industry who work in late night and early morning shifts,” said Mr. Syamsundar.

When it comes to the ever-increasing cybercrimes, he said that the emphasis would be on the principle of ‘prevention is better than cure.’ Once the money is lost, it is tough to recover it as fraudsters maintain their accounts mostly outside the State. They immediately withdraw the amount received through cheating and even close the accounts making it tough to recover the lost money. Hence, the focus will be on improved awareness, Mr. Syamsundar said.