Will misuse of PSOs for domestic work ever stop?

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Will the government ever be able to rein in the bureaucrats and police officers who utilize their Personal Security Officers (PSOs) for domestic work?

PSOs are allotted on the basis of threat perception and protocol. However, it has been observed that a section of senior officers and even their families misuse the PSOs. The security officers are made to do marketing, carry bags etc. After a photo of a PSO carrying a shopping bag in the Chandmari area here went viral a couple of days ago, an adverse reaction has emanated from the inner circles of the Assam Police.

A police official said that senior bureaucrats and police officers cannot be forced to treat their respective PSOs properly. The official said that it all depends on the mindset and common sense of individual officers and some of them fail to realise that the PSO are provided for their protection alone, not for domestic work.

The officer pointed out that the law-and-order situation is normal in the state now and as such, each officer should realise that it is not necessary to take the PSOs along during every visit to shopping malls or markets. The officer said that efforts are on to end the earlier trend of using PSOs as a status symbol. He pointed out that after review of the threat perception, many PSOs allotted to ministers, political leaders, businessmen, journalists etc., have been withdrawn. The officer said that a wrong message goes out to the public if senior IAS and IPS officers or their families misuse the PSOs allotted to them.

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