Three weeks since Karamvir Singh assumed the office of state DGP, he has been listening more than talking and getting feedback from his officers.

In his own way, Singh is also sending out a message that he is a boss to whom his men can approach when faced with a problem.

The officers have already noticed a few changes since Singh took over from Vikram Singh on September 23. The first thing he did was to putting an end to the practice of the DGP driving down to the Secretariat Annexe every morning to brief Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh on the law and order situation.

Obviously, the new DGP could not have done this without Chief Minister Mayawati’s concurrence. The practice, according to an officer, was a waste of time.

“The DGP, along with the ADG (Law and Order), used to spend a major part of his morning in the Annex building,” the officer said. By scrapping the practice, the DGP has also sent a right signal to the force.

Another change is that the DGP is easily available in his office. “He is in his office most of the time and has so far not disappointed a single person who had wished to meet him,” said an officer.

In fact, the first circular that the new DGP issued in October had stated that policemen could bring to him any official problem.

“In the Police department, the practice of handing out punishment is rampant. The DGP has told policemen he wants to hear their problems and therefore, introduced a system where he is available to everyone - right from constables to IPS officers,” said another officer. The officer added that while Vikram Singh was not exactly inaccessible, there was no such system in place earlier.

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