Govt. will not tolerate bad tendencies in force: CM

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan interacting with Thodupuzha MLA P.J. Joseph at the Kerala Police Association’s State convention venue in Thodupuzha in Idukki on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the Kerala Police Association’s (KPA) State convention at Thodupuzha in Idukki on Tuesday.

Inaugurating the conference, the Chief Minister said the Kerala Police was the best investigating agency in the country and for maintaining law and order.

Mr. Vijayan said strict action would be taken against those showing bad tendencies in the police.

The Chief Minister said when the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government came to power, the previous government had not paid welfare pensions for 18 months. “The government is now distributing ₹1,600 for over 60 lakh people in the State as welfare pensions . Former Chief Minister K. Karunakaran and other United Democratic Front governments were reluctant to distribute welfare pensions,” he said.

Mr. Vijayan said the State government planned to increase the welfare pensions in future.

During the welcome speech, police association State secretary E.V. Pradeepan raised the issue of salary revision, among other demands. But Mr. Vijayan criticised the association leader and said such demands should not have been raised in the welcome speech.

According to sources, the convention demanded that police stations should be bifurcated into four sections such as probe, law and order, community policing, and administration.

“The number of personnel in the force is less than the national average. There are some stations functioning with staff strength of only 19 in the State. In Kerala, there are 177 personnel per lakh people while States such as Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, and Nagaland have 1,000 personnel per lakh people,” association leaders said.

KPA president Sudheer Khan presided over the meeting. Agriculture Minister P. Prasad, Water Resources Minister Roshy Augustine, Thodupuzha MLA P.J. Joseph, State Police Chief Shaik Darvesh Saheb, among others, attended the convention.

Published - June 17, 2025 08:42 pm IST