Why are On-duty Mumbai Police Officers seen sitting inside Bars & Restaurants?
Shashwat Mishra : Mumbai Uncensored, 21 January 2022
On 3rd January, 2021 the hoteliers and restaurant owners of Mumbai have expressed their plight in a letter to the excise department. Their concern is over Mumbai police constables who come to these places at 9:00PM and continue to stay over the premises till 5:00 AM. Their concern is over the fact that since the policemen continue to occupy their space for the aforementioned time frame, the same has severely affected their business, as customers are scared to come to these bars and restaurants for a reason that they might be booked under the law and face actions from police over flouting covid norms. The owners contend that despite following all the guideline/restrictions released by the Maharashtra government and functioning at a 50% capacity, presence of policemen inside bars and restaurants are doing no good. The other issue they have raised is due to such “moral policing”, not just their business is suffering but it is also causing a loss of excise duty to the exchequer.
The other point which needs due consideration is the fact that currently the Mumbai police is not working in its sanctioned capacity as there is a shortage of police personnel and therefore, in such a situation deploying policemen in these clubs and restaurants just for the purpose of keeping a watch on that particular restaurant or bar is their underutilization and is overburdening the police force, this duty of keeping a watch can also be performed by home guards instead. As mentioned in the previous articles by Mumbai Uncensored regarding the shortage of police personnel and the overburdened Mumbai police force, wherein there are not enough police officers to effectively carry out both administrative and investigative functions.
The current situation is aggravated by deploying officers in bars/restaurants thus, a police force which is already working below its sanctioned strength is now working under more pressure because of the same. The statistics, as of 31st July 2021 states the number of the sanctioned strength of police personnel was 51,255, of which only 41,396 are rendering their services, which suggests a shortage of 19% personnel. There is also a shortage of police officers involved in the investigation which accounts for 18% of the shortage in PSI posts. Apart from this there is a high pendency in the investigation of cases like crime against women (77%), children (80%), and SLL (special and local laws crimes) 77% as of 2020.
Another ramification which the decision to deploy policemen in these bars and restaurants is the increasing number of covid cases among police personnel, at present there are 523 active cases in Mumbai police. This decision has not done any good and instead has worsened the situation of policing in the city, appropriate steps towards this direction are needed to be taken.
