KOCHI: Nearly 40% of the state’s police personnel have contracted the Covid infection since the pandemic’s onset. As per the data available with the Kerala Police, 19,334 police officials ranging from civil police officer (CPO) to additional director general of police (ADGP) were diagnosed with the disease as of September 2021. Among them, as many as 13 lost their lives to the virus.
According to Kerala Police Officers’ Association (KPOA) general secretary C R Biju, almost 90% of the police force -- including police stations, special units and battalions -- were deployed for Covid-related duties since March 2020. As of 2016, staff strength of the Kerala Police stood at around 50,000. A majority of the affected officials contracted the virus at the workplace.
“We have written a letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan requesting that the appointments of Covid victims’ relatives under the Dying Harness provision should be made without further delay. Even seniority need not be considered here. These officials risked their lives to serve people during a global pandemic,” he said.
As per available data, the highest number of Covid cases were reported among CPOs in the state. As many as 12,275 CPOs contracted the virus. Similarly, 3,123 senior CPOs, 1,678 assistant sub inspectors (ASI) and 1,930 sub inspectors (SI) also contracted the virus. In gazetted ranks, 245 circle inspectors (CI), 73 deputy superintendents of police (DySP), eight superintendents of police (SP), an inspector general of police (IG) and an additional director general of police (ADGP) also contracted the virus.
Police battalions from which officials were deployed to conduct inspections at checkpoints during the lockdown recorded the highest number of Covid cases. Up to 5,818 personnel of various battalions stationed at different districts were affected. Besides, 706 officials from special units also contracted the virus.
“Battalion personnel were mostly deployed to carry out inspections and guard containment areas, which can be a reason for the higher number of Covid cases among officials of these units. They also usually stayed and worked in camps where Covid spread was high,” an official said.
At the district level, the highest number of infections among cops were reported in Ernakulam, with 1,482 cops confirmed infected. Thiruvananthapuram followed with 1,464 cases. Kozhikode reported 1,257 cases, Thrissur 1,059, and Palakkad 1,040. With only 475 cops confirmed infected, Wayanad reported the lowest number of Covid cases in the police force among the state’s districts.
Coping with Covid
19,334 police personnel infected
13 succumbed to virus
Infected officials (rank-wise):
ADGP - 1, IGP - 1
SP - 8, DySP - 73
Inspector - 245
SI - 1,930
ASI - 1,678
Senior CPO - 3,123
CPO - 12,275