The Hindu : Citizens first, but cops too have problems

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 17, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Citizens first, but cops too have problems

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, FEB. 16. Reiterating that the Delhi police would keep working on its "Citizens First" motto, the Police Commissioner, Krishan Kant Paul, today listed out a series of steps being taken towards achieving the objective. He also drew the attention of the Deputy Prime Minister, Lal Krishna Advani, towards the housing problem of the police personnel, and was assured of all possible assistance.

Addressing his officers and men on the 57th Delhi Police Raising Day, Dr. Paul cited figures to drive home the point that publicising his e-mail address as well as that of several senior police officials had begun to show results. "Of the total number of complaints received, 85 per cent were concerned with traffic movement, while 10 per cent pertained to crime-related matters," informed Dr. Paul, adding that 5 per cent of the complaints pertained to other matters. The police are initiating low-cost traffic management and emphasising on traffic regulation for the time being, he added.

The Police Commissioner expressed concern over the longstanding accommodation problem of police personnel. So far only 20 per cent of the total force have access to accommodation. In the current five-year plan, Rs. 800 crores was allocated to the Delhi police towards construction of police station buildings and residential quarters. However, only Rs. 155 crores has been disbursed in the past two years. "The remaining funds need to be given to us during the period, which would enable us to achieve the objective of providing accommodation to 40 per cent of the force and ensure that all police stations have buildings of their own," said Dr. Paul. During the period, only 520 residential houses and 11 new police station buildings could have been constructed, he added.

Mr. Advani, while praising the Delhi police for its community policing initiative, assured the police chief of all possible help in this connection. He asked the Delhi police to improve their standards to a level where the common man should not fear them. "The people should not feel the need to approach any political person or somebody else for getting their complaints sorted out. They should feel confident that the police officer in their area would be able to do the needful," said Mr. Advani, adding that while fighting terrorism was an important task of policing these days, instilling a sense of security among citizens was always a top priority.

Earlier, Mr. Advani inspected the Parade, which also had a traffic police tableau - depicting several traffic control measures - for the first time, and decorated various police officers and personnel with medals for gallantry and meritorious services.

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