Remaining orderlies will be out soon, says Parameshwara

The state government will soon withdraw police constables still posted as orderlies at the homes of some senior ministers and police officers, Home Minister G Parameshwara said on Saturday.

The government has abolished the orderly system whereby constables are posted at the homes of senior IPS officers to do menial chores.

Orderlies are constables attached to reserve police forces like the City Armed Reserve (CAR) and the District Armed Reserve (DAR). Although their job description defines them as security orderlies, almost all of them are engaged in gardening, washing clothes, dropping officers’ children to schools and cooking at officers’ homes. The government decided to do away with the system following serious complaints of misuse.

There are around 3,000 orderlies in Karnataka.

The government will replace orderlies with ‘followers’, who are group ‘D’ employees. The system (of providing orderlies or followers to senior IPS officers to carry out their officials tasks) will continue as the Police Act mandates it, Parameshwara said on the sidelines of the inauguration of the ‘Namma 100’ emergency service.

There were two options before the government: replace orderlies with followers or pay officers an additional monthly allowance so that they can hire people as domestic helps. It chose the first option. The orderlies will be deployed for policing work.

“The process to recruit followers is going on and will take some time to complete. There won’t be any orderlies once the followers are hired,” Parameshwara said. Candidates for followers should meet the eligibility criteria for group ‘D’ employees. They will be briefed about what the job would entail, he added.