‘You don’t assign carpenter to do confectioner’s job’: Haryana DGP steps up efforts to ensure accountability in police force

In line with police reforms and efforts to ensure accountability, Haryana’s Director General of Police, OP Singh, has issued clear instructions to officers across the state: those who lack the temperament to handle the public should be reassigned to other duties.

“The point is simple, you don’t assign a carpenter to do a confectioner’s job. Whether these orders are implemented in spirit remains to be seen,” he added.

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He further stated that public dealing is a fine art, linked to one’s soft skills, management, and office design.

He advised, “First, reduce the size of your office table. Make your and visitors’ chairs the same. Never use a towel on your chair; it’s pointless.”

“If your office has a conference hall, have visitors sit there. If not, make a large room in your office a visitors’ room,” he added while emphasising on office design.

He stated, “Keep books by literary figures like Premchand, Dinkar, and Renu there. Appoint a person to serve them tea and water. Appoint a well-mannered police officer who will talk to them informally about their purpose and problem and make them comfortable.”

He exhorted to follow Metro Rail station protocols to guide visitors from the gate to the visitors’ room, footstep signage that directs people directly to the visitors’ room.

“Train willing students from DAV Police-Public Schools to be stewards. Engage them in volunteer work to receive visitors at the gate and assist them in reaching the visitors’ room,” the circular said.

The circular added, “Distressed individuals will not have to wander around, and children will receive training in soft skills and sensitivity. If there is a conference hall, meet people there. Seat those whose turn it is in a nearby chair. When people are expressing their views, put away their mobile phones and listen actively. Help them frame their problem clearly.”

IPS Om Parkash Singh was assigned the additional charge of Director General of Police (DGP) of Haryana after DGP Shatrujeet Kapur was placed on leave following claims around the demise of IPS Y Puran Kumar.

While talking to reporters in Panchkula on the sidelines of Police Commemoration Day on Tuesday, DGP Singh said some people are promoting a misleading narrative on social media, whereas the reality is quite stark.

“Those who laid down their lives for the nation, we should hold them in respect and take care of their families,” he said.

DGP Singh had paid floral tributes at the ‘Police Martyrs Memorial’ to the martyrs of the police force.

Police Commemoration Day is observed yearly on October 21. It is observed in remembrance of 10 Central Reserve Police Force personnel who were eliminated on this day in 1959 in an ambush by Chinese troops in Ladakh’s Hot Spring area.