By the time most of Delhi winds down for the night, the city’s police personnel are still at work. Fatigue lines their faces, their bodies drained of energy, yet their duty keeps them on their feet. Long hours, little rest, and an unrelenting workload have become second nature to those in uniform. For many, the ticking of the clock holds greater authority over their lives than the law itself.
The colonial-era expectation of ‘always being on duty’ remains ingrained in India’s policing system, with officers in the capital functioning under a structure that demands their availability at all times. The Police Act of 1861, still in effect today, mandates that every police officer is considered always on duty, no matter where they are posted in the district.
“Police officers always on duty and may be employed in any part of district: Every police officer shall, for all purposes in this Act contained, be considered to be always on duty, and may, at any time, be employed as a police officer in any part of the general police district,” – The Police Act, 1861, sub-clause 22
In practical terms, this means that for Delhi’s police force, time is a luxury they can rarely afford.
A system reluctant to change
Despite repeated calls for police reforms since independence, working conditions on the ground remain largely unchanged. Delhi Police personnel are expected to work 12-hour shifts daily, though there is no formal provision ensuring shifts end on time. An eight-hour shift system was once considered, with the idea of dividing work hours into three slots, but the concept never materialised.
In 2022, a pilot programme was introduced in the Rohini police district, implementing an eight-hour shift system along with the e-chittha programme. The shifts were scheduled from 8 AM to 4 PM, 4 PM to midnight, and midnight to 8 AM. However, the initiative failed to gain traction and was not implemented across the department.
With no fixed work hours, officers find themselves spending more time on duty than off it. A 2014 study by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD), titled National Requirement of Manpower for 8-Hour Shifts in Police Stations, found that over 65% of police personnel in India worked for more than 11 hours a day. Only 9.2% were able to limit their working hours to eight or less.
In Delhi, officers recount instances of working through the day and night without rest. A senior officer described the exhausting nature of the job, saying, “We have endured multiple sleepless nights without food or rest. Every officer must go through this, especially when handling a case. If there’s a case to be solved, we are given a deadline, and we must meet it. I have personally worked for 48 hours without sleep or rest just to solve a case.”
The normalisation of overwork
Whether in the field or at headquarters, long hours are a reality that Delhi Police officers have come to accept. “Most of the overtime burden falls on those posted in the field, but the same situation exists at headquarters. If an event occurs, we must be there, and deployment can stretch well beyond 12 hours. Yet, we are expected to report on time the next day,” said a senior official from the Police Headquarters.
The issue has persisted for years. The Padmanabhaiah Committee report of 2000 had recommended that police officers receive scheduled weekly leaves and be required to take earned leave every year. However, in districts with high crime rates and a dense population, officers are often unable to take their scheduled days off.
During the course of this report, it was found that personnel posted in North East Delhi, East Delhi, Shahdara, and some parts of North West Delhi rarely get time off. “Crime frequency is extremely high in this district, and the number of personnel available to handle it is insufficient. Even if we worked 24 hours straight, it wouldn’t be enough,” said a senior officer from North East Delhi.
In Shahdara, while crime rates are comparatively lower, personnel face the same difficulties. A constable posted at Farsh Bazar police station said, “Several high-profile crimes occurred in 2024, leading to heightened deployment and frequent patrols. This meant many of us could not take our listed weekly leaves.”
A 2014 national report by the BPRD found that 73.6% of police personnel could not take their weekly off in a month. Only 3.5% managed to take four to five days off in the same period.
A senior officer insisted that shifts usually do not exceed 12 hours except in exceptional cases. “Ordinarily, shifts are 12 hours long. Officers work longer hours primarily during festivals or on days of national importance,” he said.
The struggle for rest
For officers unable to take weekly offs, official leave policies serve as the only means to rest. Government regulations allow police personnel to take casual leave, earned leave, maternity leave, paternity leave, and child care leave. Some are also granted study leave.
However, officers note that applying for scheduled leaves is a more streamlined process than requesting a weekly off. “It was much easier to get my maternity or casual leave approved than my weekly leave. I have been working 12-hour shifts for 10 consecutive days. The official leave application process seems more structured for these types of leaves,” said a female police officer from East Delhi.
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Some female personnel believe that introducing menstrual leave could help officers cope better with their duties. “If menstrual leave were mandated, it would help us significantly. But given how understaffed we are, I doubt it would be possible,” said a female constable from Central Delhi.
A force stretched thin
Delhi Police currently has a total strength of 81,702 personnel, though its sanctioned capacity is 94,249, leaving a 13.3% deficit. The Ministry of Home Affairs has stated that while the sanctioned ratio of police personnel in Delhi is 459.01 per one lakh people, the actual figure in 2021 was only 410.26.
A 2015 BPRD report, titled Study of Fatigue in Police Personnel: Causes and Remedies, identified erratic duty hours, extended shifts, and the sudden onset of emergencies as the primary causes of fatigue. The report found that 74.2% of personnel were affected by erratic duty hours, 70.7% by extended shift duties, and 70.4% by sudden emergencies.
Despite these findings, discussions around police reform in India have focused largely on modernisation rather than addressing structural issues like shift management and workload distribution. Proposals often begin and end with increasing personnel strength, while the physical and mental well-being of officers remains unaddressed.
For now, Delhi’s police force continues its relentless grind—serving a city that never stops, with little time to rest.
