Why orders outlawing ‘orderly system’ have not worked for Karnataka Police

In 2006, Adesh Hegde’s* happiness knew no bounds. At 24 years of age, he had landed his dream job as a police constable. Hailing from a Naxalism impacted area along the Western Ghat, Adesh wanted to help people join the mainstream during his university days, seeing it as a permanent solution to the cycle of violence. Growing up, he realised the importance of having a job, and began to prepare hard to join the police force to combat extremism and also live a life of dignity that comes with a decent job. The hard work paid off when Adesh joined the Armed Reserve Police force in Bengaluru as a constable.

Eighteen years later, extremism in his area has all but subsided, his two children go to college and a loving wife at home takes care of the family, but dignity eludes 42-year-old Adesh.

Adesh entered the force with a Masters degree in sociology and served well for 10 years in all his assignments. He was then asked to serve under a Director General of Police (DGP). Seeing Adesh’s sincerity, the DGP asked Adesh to work as an orderly to which he agreed without being fully aware of the ignominy that awaited him. But soon the reality unfolded. Adesh was made to polish the shoes of the DGP concerned, drop his children to school, wash the family’s clothes and clean the house.

“I have been working as a full-time domestic help. I don’t tell my children what I really do but I think they know. None of us in the family talk about it since we feel ashamed about the whole thing,” Adesh tells The Federal.

Not only serving officers, Karnataka constabulary finds itself serving at the house of retired officers too. Vishnu Shetty*, who works under a retired Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), has been assigned the job of a medical attendant for the ailing mother-in-law of the AGP.

“I was trained to handle law and order, but here I have been forced into caregiving,” Vishnu says.

According to another police constable, who is serving under a senior woman officer of the rank of Inspector General of Police, the treatment meted out to him is that of a servant. His duties include cleaning floors, and utensils, assisting in decorating prayer rooms before the family performs poojas, and taking care of the officer’s Labrador dog.

“I have always loved pets but my situation is worse than the pet I take out for morning and evening walk. The seniors consider it beneath them to talk to me but shower love on the dog,” he says.

Yet another orderly, who was recently relieved from duty following a government order to withdraw orderlies from the homes of retired officials, delineated the various tasks he performed. His responsibilities ranged from buying groceries from the market to fetching cosmetics for the retired official. “Some people agreed to take the orderly responsibilities believing they would get some perks, but they got nothing and ended up disappointed,” he said.

While the orderly system dates back to the British era, for the last 24 years there has been a concerted demand for dismantling the system at all levels in Karnataka. However, there has been no change on the ground.

In 2000, former Director General & Inspector General of Police (DG&IGP) C Dinakar wrote a letter to the then-Janata Dal government demanding that the system be abolished. Dinkar retired and the system continued. Later, DG&IGP Dr Ajay Kumar Singh tried to put an end to the system and wrote a letter to the incumbent government. Again after his retirement, there was no follow-up by the head of the police forces.

Some headway was achieved in the direction when the Siddaramaiah government (2013-18) passed an order to abolish the orderly system in 2017. The Karnataka Ministry of Home was then headed by G Paramehwara.

The government notification which decided to abolish the 'orderly' system asked the officials to appoint 50 per cent of the personal staff or followers instead of police constables as orderlies. To help make the changes, the government decided to give home orderly allowances to engage people on a part-time basis.

Despite the move, the system has persisted, stoking renewed concerns in the second term of Siddaramaiah and Parameshwara as CM and HM (2023-28). The British-era system continues to be perpetuated by retired IPS officials and even by an official who voluntarily retired and joined a political party to participate in the Assembly elections in 2023.

Last year, the Siddaramaiah government again passed an order stating Karnataka State Reserve Police officials won’t serve as orderlies at homes of retired officers. The chief minister then sought a compliance report about the withdrawal of orderlies from the homes of retired IPS/police officers.

Driven to the edge

The system doesn’t just raise moral and ethical questions, but is so exploitative in nature that it drives police personnel at the receiving end to the edge.

In October 2023, a constable belonging to the Bellary District Armed Reserve Police Force died by suicide. He was found hanging from the ceiling fan in his room in the police quarters. Constable Prakash N hailed from rural Karnataka. According to sources, he was selected for training at the Centre for Counter-Terrorism but could not attend it following pressure to report to an IPS official as attendant. The situation apparently left him depressed. The case is under investigation.

In another case in December 2023, a police constable of the Reserved Police Force, who hailed from a north Karnataka district, tried to kill himself but was fortunately rescued by his family. It is alleged the constable took the step because he was being harassed by an officer who he was serving as an ‘attendant’. This matter to is being investigated by the police.

The police personnel are driven to the edge because repeated cries for help go unheard.

Orderlies, who have been whistle-blowers, have made several attempts to approach the government. A few orderlies of retired DGPs have written ‘secret letters’ to the government, but not much has come off those please as the system continues unchecked.

Earlier in 2017, a few orderlies approached the Akhila Karnataka Police Mahasangha, which in turn threatened an agitation if the system wasn’t withdrawn. It was because of this pressure that the government passed an order to abolish the system in 2017. As a backlash, some of the orderlies who joined the protest were transferred by their superiors.

How the system came into being and evolved

Orderlies, initially tasked with meticulous uniform management and aiding superiors, gradually took on expanded duties such as handling telephonic communications, ensuring personal security for higher-ranking officers, and performing essential yet minor tasks.

Former Director General of Police Dr DV Guruprasad emphasised that the orderly system’s original purpose was to assist police officials, primarily the superintendents of police, in maintaining law and order. However, over time, the system veered off course, with officials misusing orderlies for personal tasks like food preparation, laundry, and family care.

“Senior officers are required to be available whenever the situation demands. The system of orderlies was put in place for senior officers to help them discharge their duties. There was a provision for a ‘telephone orderly’ to help officials get information or send messages while there were only landlines and walkie-talkies. The orderlies were later used for cooking, cleaning and such works. At one point, the top officials used to get five to 10 orderlies for assistance,” former Inspector General of Police U Nisar Ahmed told The Federal.

“While there are provisions for orderlies for serving officials, there is no such provision for retired police officials. But even they are getting deputing orderlies,” Ahmed said, adding, “This is utterly wrong.”

Official records indicate over 2,500 reserved force personnel serving as orderlies in the state. Shashidhar Venugopal, president of the Akhila Karnataka Police Mahasangha, however, believes the actual number is significantly higher, claiming that IPS officers have 20 to 25 orderlies each.

Shashidhar, previously arrested for allegedly ‘inciting’ the constabulary to protest, acknowledged that not all personnel are forced into the orderly role; some voluntarily choose to become orderlies to “remain free from the police duties and enjoy the additional favours from the family members of their bosses along with the salary from the department”.

The way out

According to a top official in the Home Department, the Siddaramaiah government has asked the Karnataka Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) to study the system introduced to replace the orderly system in states such as Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh and come up with a new proposal to completely stop the practice. DPAR is likely to submit its report by February.

Some of the Orderlies, who are secret whistle-blowers, have already made such attempts to reach the government through some officials. Some orderlies of the retired DGPs have written ‘secret letters’ to the government, and the government in turn asked to send the details about the orderly system. Thus the issue was raised, and the government had to think again about implementing the ban on an orderly system.

The need for reform in the police orderly system gained traction nationally in the 2000s, with both the Second Administrative Reforms Commission (2005) and the Sixth Pay Commission (2008) recommending the discontinuation of the practice.

A pivotal moment in this push for change came in 2009 with the suspected death of a police constable appointed as an orderly to the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIGP) in Andhra Pradesh. The incident fuelled demands for abolishing the orderly system, prompting government acknowledgement that the practice contributed to ethical degradation within the police force. In 2013, the Permanent Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs underscored the issue, marking a significant step toward addressing the concerns surrounding the orderly system.

The Madras High Court in August 2022 asked the Tamil Nadu government to abolish the orderly system within four months and investigate complaints of employing orderlies for household tasks. Justice SM Subramaniam, in response to a retired police officer's petition on illegal occupation of official quarters and maintain the orderly system passed the order stating, ““Though these police personnel are working as menials in the residence of the higher police officials, they are to be construed as oppressed and depressed class amongst the homogeneous class of uniformed personnel and the constitutional courts, as the protector of the Constitution, is expected to raise voice for such voiceless police….”

(*Some names have to been changed to protect identities.)