Satisfaction below 20% amid repairs, sanitation concerns

New Delhi: While it is no secret that cops on the streets of the Capital are overworked and stressed, the latest survey conducted by the Quarter Allotment Cell of the Delhi Police showed that police personnel living in homes allotted to them had a satisfaction level of just 19.53 per cent with the conditions they live in.

One official said that one of the major reasons behind the low satisfaction level is improper maintenance. "Sanitation, repairing issues are there," the official said. Moreover, other officials who spoke to Millennium Post insisted that public utilities do not reach them efficiently and even when amenities in the society need to be fixed, they have to shell out money from their own pockets.

According to the survey for 2020, published in the Delhi Police's Annual Report, quarters and residences are divided into six categories and there are a total of nearly 16,000 homes available for police personnel.

In type one quarters (5,578 quarters) — the level of satisfaction was 11.43 per cent, in type two (8,093), satisfaction level was 30.74 per cent, in type three (1,905), satisfaction level was 36.53 per cent, in type four (310), satisfaction level was 19.92 percent, in type five (90), satisfaction level was 113.92 per cent.

Interestingly, in type six quarters (13), which are usually allocated to senior officials such as the Commissioner, Special CPs, Joint CPs or Additional CP, the satisfaction level was at 24.52 per cent.

Sources in Delhi Police confirmed that a Deputy Secretary to the Government of India, in January, had written to the city police asking them to plan to achieve a 40 per cent housing satisfaction level in the next five years.

But data shows that from 2018 to 2020, the satisfaction level has increased only marginally. In 2018, the satisfaction level was 18.45 per cent. The following year, the police informed the L-G here that the satisfaction level had improved but barely to 18.83 per cent.

The latest annual report further revealed that at present 905 quarters have been allotted to women police personnel, officers and the percentage of the same is 10.15 per cent of the total quarters, which is more than the reserved quota for women. The Delhi Police said there are proposals in the works to finish up 5,796 additional quarters for police personnel here, after the completion of which the city police predicts satisfaction level will jump past 26 per cent.

According to standing order related to allotment of residential accommodation, "A Govt. servant to whom a residence has been allotted, shall maintain the residence premises and the surrounding area in a clean condition to the satisfaction of the Estate Officer, Public Works Department, New Delhi, Municipal Committee, Municipal Corporation of Delhi or Municipal Committee of Cantonment Board as the case may be. Failure to do so shall render him/her in-eligible for continued retention of the residence."