Recently, two videos concerning police line mess of Uttar Pradesh went viral, and, incidentally, both were about poor quality food.
The first video that came out was of a police constable from Firozabad, alleging that sub-standard food was being served to them, after putting in more than 12 hours of work a day. He was seen weeping in the video, and, predictably, netizens’ emotions ran high.
After a few days, another video from another UP police mess in nearby Mainpuri made the rounds, showing a police officer reprimanding mess workers for poor quality food.
Indian Masterminds got in touch with this police officer, Mr. Kamlesh Dixit, IPS, who is SP of Mainpuri district, to get more information about the incident.
POOR QUALITY FOOD IN POLICE MESS
It started with a video that went viral in no time, of a UP Police constable weeping over the bad quality of food served to them in the police mess.
The policeman in question, Manoj Kumar, had picked up a plate of food from the Firozabad police line mess. He claimed that they are required to work for 12 hours a day and, in return, they are provided with such bad quality food that cannot be fed even to a dog.
He also said that he might be penalised for coming in front of cameras to express his displeasure over the food served to them.
OFFICER REPRIMANDS MESS STAFF
Soon, thereafter, another video of yet another instance of poor quality food served in a UP police line mess went viral. But, this time, it was an IPS officer who was seen and heard reprimanding the mess staff over the quality of food.
The officer in the video is Mainpuri SP, Mr. Kamlesh Dixit, IPS. In the video, he is seen pulling up the manager and other staff of the mess in Mainpuri police lines. “This is what you get paid for?” he is heard asking in the video.
And, while inspecting the dal, he asked: “This is just water, where is dal?” He then asked them to explain why the quantity of dal was less and of water more.
At one time, he is seen holding up a roti and saying to the staff: “Now that the Firozabad matter is in limelight, will you make amends?”, referring to the incident of the constable complaining about mess food.
ROUTINE INSPECTION TURNED SOUR
When asked by Indian Masterminds about the mess inspection, Mr. Kamlesh Dixit said, “I go on rounds to check the quality of food served in police mess every Friday. This time, when I went to the Mainpuri police line mess to evaluate the food’s quality, I was extra alert as complaints about food served in police lines had surfaced.”
According to the officer, the roti was poorly made and the dal was watery. Hence, he reprimanded the mess manager and gave him instructions on how to raise the quality of the food. He also told them that if they prepare food from the heart, it will automatically become tasty.
“Since then, an improvement in the quality of food has been noticed,” Mr. Dixit told Indian Masterminds.
STATE GOVT INSTRUCTION
Two incidents, two viral videos, both on the poor quality of food served in two separate police line messes in UP, are bound to raise eyebrows.
However, dispelling all doubts about whether our policemen, who work day and night to ensure our safety, are being looked after well by the government or not, Mr. Dixit said that the state government had made inspection of police line mess a part of routine procedure. “The government has instructed us to look after the welfare of all our employees,” he summed up.
