Leave on birthday: City police plan bash for all

Birthdays were never special for ASI Hanumantha Raju. The cop, attached to the Upparpet police station, would put on his uniform and report for duty as any other day.

Not anymore. Raju’s 54th birthday will be celebrated on Sunday, with the city police deciding to make the day special for all personnel. The city police commissioner’s social media wing will send out birthday cards to at least 50 policemen on Sunday at an inaugural ceremony of celebrating birthdays of policemen. Hanumantha Raju will be one among them.

City police commissioner Bhaskar Rao will issue birthday cards to all police personnel working under the city police commissionerate, including home guards and D-group staff. To bring in a feel-good factor and some motivation, Rao is also providing coupons for leave to those below the ASI rank. “ASIs and officials upwards have a provision to approach seniors with a valid reason for leave,” a senior police officer said.

“Every year, I work on my birthday. But this year, my family — including my sons aged 8 and 12 — will attend the inauguration ceremony at the commissioner’s office along with me,” said an excited Hanumantha Raju.

Birthday cards will be sent through the internal ‘Tappal’ system with the city police commissioner’s digital signature. Greetings will be sent to all police officers from the rank of Additional Commissioners of Police to Group-D staff, including home guards.

“A police officer’s job is possibly one of the hardest and I wanted to find a way to soothe their frayed nerves. I believe that a happy police staff will also be better in fulfilling their duties,” Rao said.