Mysuru: While the City Police Department is gearing up to fulfil the order to give holidays to Constables and other lower-rung officers to celebrate birthdays of their wards and anniversaries of family members, a section of constabulary is upset with the Department for not granting them their weekly offs.

It may be recalled here that City Police Commissioner Dr. A Subrahmanyeswara Rao, in his efforts to make the Department Constable-friendly and at the same time permit the constabulary to spend some quality time with their families, has issued a directive to all the Station Heads that any Constable, who approaches with a leave application, citing his or her child’s birthday as the reason, cannot be denied leave.

As per the order, PSI and below the rank officers attached to all Law and Order and Traffic Police Stations, City Crime Branch (CCB), City Special Branch (CSB), City Crime Records Bureau (CCRB), City Control Room, Mandakalli Airport Security and Fingerprint Unit can avail the benefit and spend quality time with family during their ward’s birthdays. The Commissioner has also plans to issue another directive by which a day’s leave will be granted to Constables on their wedding anniversaries.

Welcoming the order with a ‘pinch of salt’, some Constables complained that forget special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries, they were not getting their mandatory weekly holidays. “After putting in more than 12 hours of duty everyday (at times it is 14 hours) we do not get our much-deserving weekly holidays,” said Constables.

Last time when the constabulary were planning their protest, the then Home Minister Dr. G. Parameshwara had directed the Police top brass to give mandatory weekly offs to all Constables. “This order was implemented only for two months and now, we are not getting offs,” a Constable said and added that the Home Minister’s circular has no value now.

He said that if a Constable works on his weekly off, he would get an allowance of Rs. 200 for the 12 or 14 hours he/ she puts in that day. “We have requested the higher authorities to at least hike the allowance so that it will help us increase the monthly salary,” the Constable added.