Covid attacked an already unhealthy, sick police force, says Nawal Bajaj, Jt CP, Mumbai police

Demands housing for policemen closer to work in Mumbai. Stressful work and life contributing to comorbidities leading to higher Covid toll among Mumbai policemen, says the senior police officer

Mumbai: Stressful work and lifestyle of policemen contributing to comorbidities led to higher Covid death toll among Mumbai policemen, remarked a senior police officer. Mumbai police lost 58 of its personnel to Covid since the first policeman’s death on April 8, 2020, said Nawal Bajaj, joint commissioner of Mumbai police.

Speaking at a webinar by Praja Foundation on Reimagining Mumbai Post Covid-19, Bajaj said the toll rose up because the virus was attacking an already unhealthy, sick force that was facing physical and mental stress with elder policemen being “the museum of all stress related diseases”.

While initially the Covid casualty was about one death every fortnight, the death figures swelled to about a policeman a day soon after the police force started handling the huge exodus of migrants. This was despite 7000 policemen kept off regular policing duties including 5000 policemen aged over 55 years and 2000 aged over 50 with serious co-morbidities. Bajaj said that they helped Covid positive policemen by having their own Covid care centers, ambulances and ensuring medicines and reserved beds for them in hospitals.

Bajaj stressed that the root cause of an unhealthy police force was lack of housing facilities for policemen in the city, which could be resolved only by government allocations. Bajaj said that 12 hours of work coupled with three hours of travelling squeezed out policemen, with no fixed time for food and sleep led to stress-led comorbidities. The constabulary of Mumbai couldn’t even afford a 50 sq ft of house in Mumbai and ended up staying in far flung suburbs, thus forcing him to travel three hours to do 12- hours of duty, he said. 

Though the Mumbai police received Covid aid in kind of over Rs 100 crores from various corporates and civil society aid, swelling the Mumbai Police Welfare Fund to Rs 50 crore and the Mumbai Police Foundation fund to Rs 12 crores, it wasn’t good enough to meet the needs of housing for 28,000 policemen in city. 

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Member of legislative assembly Amin Patel felt that housing for 28,000 policemen in the city would require investments of Rs 1400 crore @ Rs 50 lakh per house by the state. He also said that houses could also be reserved for policemen in affordable housing coming up in the city. Journalist Faye D’Souza felt that housing reforms for policemen kept getting ignored by successive governments as it failed to be a vote-garnering issues for politicians unlike say building of statues.

D’Souza stressed on the need to institutionalise welfare measures for policemen and their families on the lines of the armed forces since police didn’t enjoy healthcare or health insurance facilities post- retirement. Former commissioner of Mumbai police Julio Ribeiro suggested a committee that could suggest and follow up reforms for Mumbai police. “It took a pandemic to bring out the humane side of the police. Police sensitivities and consideration of people in law and order is needed in normal times as well and should be a part of police in-service training.”