24 April,2019 06:13 PM IST | | Diwakar Sharma and Suraj Ojha
Picture for representational purpose only
The Mumbai police personnel who will be working during the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections in Mumbai will not have to worry about food and drinking water as Maharashtra Home department has sanctioned Rs. 1.25 crore to provide hygienic food and safe drinking water for on-duty election officers.
Food and drinking water for on-duty policemen during the elections has always been a major issue. But this time around, the Mumbai police had requested the Home department to dispense funds for the policemen on election duty. "Acting swiftly, the Home Department released Rs. 1.25 crore to Mumbai police recently," said a senior police officer requesting anonymity.
In Mumbai, there is a total of five regions - East, West, North, South, and Central - and each region has been allocated Rs. 25 lakh by the Maharashtra Home Department. Now all the five additional commissioners of Mumbai police will sit together in the next couple of days to standardise the menu and quality of food for on-duty election officers, a highly placed source in Mumbai police told mid-day.
Earlier, the Additional Commissioners of Mumbai Police were planning to give responsibilities to the zonal DCPs to equally distribute the funds to all the police stations but considering the quality and price differences at different locations, the Additional CPs will now sit together to decide if the contract to provide hygienic food should be given to one caterer in Mumbai in order to keep the quality of food alike for all the policemen who will be on election duty.
Speaking to mid-day, Santosh Rastogi, Joint Commissioner of Police (admin) said, "It is important to keep up the health of our policemen. So, the policemen deployed for election duty will be given food on time. We have also made arrangements for policemen arriving from outside Mumbai for election duty."
The strength of the Mumbai police is nearly 50,000. The spokesperson of Mumbai police Manjunath Singe said, "A total 4,500 policemen will be coming from outside Mumbai for election duty on April 29."
After the officers are deployed at all the polling booths in Mumbai, police sources said, "The policemen will be given food-packets between 7 and 9 pm on the eve of April 28. Next morning (On Election day in Mumbai), they will be served breakfast between 8 and 9 am, lunch between 12-2 pm and the dinner will be served between 7 and 9 pm."
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