Himachal Pradesh Police on Wednesday decided to do away with the habit of writing ‘worthy’ in official correspondences to senior Police officials which had been a customary practice.
“It has been observed that in the margins of note sheets, several internal orders and communications ‘worthy’ is prefixed before the rank of an officer, including the undersigned. This practice is a reminder of the colonial mindset and needs to be corrected,” Somesh Goyal, Director General of Police (DGP) told The Statesman.
Goyal has already written a letter to all the officials and staff in the Police Department to dispense with this hangover from the past, asking them not to prefix ‘worthy’ in any correspondence now onwards.
“It has become a customary to write such prefixes in official correspondences in government departments and such practices can be done away with. They are irrelevant and reflect the colonial mindset,” he said.
Last week, Goyal had invited local leaders, NGOs and legal experts to seek suggestions on gaps in police functioning. During the discussion, he had admitted that there was need to intervene for improvement, right from the attitude of the cops to the traditional approach in handling the issues by Police.
He had even raised the issue of improvement in working conditions of Police men and increasing the staff strength in HP.
He has already started the exercise to strengthen the constabulary which comprises 95 per cent of the Police force in HP as they are the real face of Police and there was the need to empower them.
The top cop is now focusing on strengthening the investigation wing of HP Police on the lines of CBI. For this, the HP Police is planning to rope in officers, who had worked in CBI and their services would be utilised for this.