Chennai, Feb 5 (IANS) The Tamil Nadu government has formally moved to dismantle the controversial “orderly system” in the police department, informing the Madras High Court that it has issued a Government Order (GO) constituting district-level monitoring committees to eradicate the long-criticised practice.

The submission was made on Thursday before the division bench of Justices S.M. Subramaniam and C. Kumarappan.

Advocate General P.S. Raman placed a copy of the January 21 GO on record and told the court that the state had implemented the directions earlier issued by the Bench on January 7, with minor procedural modifications.

The orderly system refers to the practice of deploying police personnel for domestic and personal chores at the residences of senior officers — a system long viewed as exploitative and unrelated to official police duties.

The High Court had directed the government to establish a mechanism to completely abolish the practice.

According to the new GO, a five-member committee will be set up in every district under the chairmanship of the District Collector. The panel will include the District Revenue Officer (DRO), another officer of the same rank nominated by the Collector, the Additional Superintendent of Police (Headquarters), and another ASP-rank officer.

These committees have been tasked with gathering information, receiving complaints from the public in any form — oral, written or electronic — and taking immediate steps to eliminate the orderly system. They are also required to ensure that no police personnel are assigned to household or personal work and that such staff are redeployed to regular policing duties. To ensure accountability, the committees must submit progress reports to the Home Secretary every two months.

In major urban centres such as Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai, the Collectors have been authorised to form multiple teams to strengthen enforcement. The GO further states that the Additional Chief Secretary, Home (Police VI) Department, will initiate departmental or disciplinary action against officials if violations are reported.

After recording the government’s compliance, the judges stressed the need for continuous monitoring and adjourned the case for four weeks to review the effectiveness of the measures. The move is expected to bring structural reforms to the police administration and uphold the dignity of uniformed personnel across the state.

–IANS

aal/vd