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Rajasthan police take MIT route to improve its performance

Special Correspondent

Poverty Action Lab. of MIT to execute a project to improve the image of cops

JAIPUR: The Rajasthan police have tied up with the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on a project to improve its performance and public perception. Poverty Action Lab. of MIT will execute the project which would assess the current state of service delivery and public relations of the State police and implement reforms in a few of the selected police stations, evaluate their outcome and extend the useful reforms to other stations.

The pilot project of the programme, likely to last three to four months, is to be launched on Wednesday at nine police stations in Jaipur district and one in Sikar district. During the pilot project, four important measures -- community observers, duty roster, weekly off and security of tenure -- are to be introduced, singly or in combination, to assess their effects on the service delivery by police and perception of police performance by the public.

Discussions have been on between the top brass of the Rajasthan police and the representatives of Povety Action Lab. since August 2005. Esther Dulfo, Professor of Economics at MIT, visited Jaipur in August last and January this year to hold discussions with A.S.Gill, Director-General of Rajasthan Police, and other senior officers. Daniel Keniston, research assistant, who is coordinating the project, has been visiting the State Capital on a regular basis.

"The most innovative experiment would be of community observers," said M.K.Devarajan, Additional DGP (Headquarters), and Rajasthan. "The community observers are members of public who volunteer to sit in police stations for three-four hours and observe police activities and working.

It is anticipated that the presence of these observers would have a sobering effect on policemen and improve their behaviour, transparency and accountability," he noted.

"The presence of the observers could also infuse a better sense of security in the minds of public who visit the police stations with various types of complaints and requests. It would also reduce the gap between the public and the police," Mr.Devarajan said. The observers would get first hand knowledge about the difficulties faced by the police in carrying out their jobs. "If the observers share even some of the problems they witnessed with their fellow citizens a better appreciation of the police can be expected," he pointed out.

The community observers are to be posted at Amer and Chomu police stations while the effect of assured tenure of one year would be studied at the Kanota police station.

At the Bagru police station the effect of giving weekly offs to staff members would be tested. The experimentation of duty rotation to all police personnel in all types of works would be carried out in the Chandwaji police station.

A combination of these measures would be tried in police stations of Sanganer Sadar, Kalwad and Sri Madhopur, Vishwakarma Industrial Area and Bassi. The police stations at Shahpura and Harmada will be kept as control samples for the project.

Poverty Action Lab. has undertaken this project to improve the effectiveness of development programmes by providing policy makers with clear scientific policy, without charging any money from the State or the Central Governments.

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