4th police commission will be constituted soon to address cops’ grievances, says CM
Chennai: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Friday disclosed that the AIADMK government was considering to set up the fourth Police Commission in the state to help resolve their grievances and demands for additional perks and incentives to the uniformed men.
The DGP has sent a proposal and the government is considering to set up the fourth Police Commission, Palaniswami said replying to the debate on the demands for grants for the police and fire and rescue services departments in the Assembly.
He was in particular responding to the senior DMK member Dr K Ponmudi who said it was the earlier DMK regime which had first set up a Police Commission in Tamil Nadu to look into the grievances of police personnel, after which two other Police Commissions were set up. The DMK MLA sought to know if the present government was contemplating any such proposal now.
Palaniswami made a series of announcements for both the departments for the year 2019-20. The highlights of the news schemes included establishment of five new police stations at a cost of `14.75 crore. They will come up in Cholapuram in Thanjavur district, Senkarai (Namakkal dt), Tirupalai and Matt-uthavani (Madurai dt) and Palacode in Dharmapuri where an All Women Police Station will come up.
Formation of a cyber crime wing in Tirupur at a cost of Rs 91.74 lakh, construction of police buildings at a cost of Rs 21.33 crore, archiving of digitized records at a cost of Rs 5.10 crore, implementation of E-Beat system at a cost of Rs 1.26 crore, purchase of body-worn cameras and drones for aerial surveillance system at a cost of `1.38 crore, and enhanced fuel allowance to police personnel, were among other key highlights.
Palaniswami said henceforth every police personnel winning a medal for meritorious service will also get an accompanying ‘CM’s Scroll’ which they can preserve for their lifetime.
Palaniswami’s important announcements for the Fire Services department included opening of fire service stations at 14 places across the state with an outlay of `17.25 crore, including in Chennai Marina having a rescue centre. New quarters at 21 locations for fire services personnel will be built with an outlay of `6.01 crore. These will include eight officers quarters, he said, adding, the department during the year will procure one 54-metre high ‘aerial ladder platform’ at a cost of `12 crore for fire fighting in high-rise structures. This will be for exclusive use on Old Mahaballipuram Road (OMR), the city’s IT corridor.
For aerial survey of fire accidents, Palaniswami said 50 drones will be purchased during the year by the department at a cost of `1 crore.
Law & Order maintained: Stating that law and order was being well maintained in Tamil Nadu, which continued to be a ‘garden of peace’ compared to other states, Palaniswami reiterated his leader late J. Jayalalithaa’s commitment to providing all necessary facilities for the police force to perform efficiently and humane manner. Police officers were able to function without any political interference.
Citing facts and figures from the national crime records bureau statistics, the Chief Minister said the overall crime rate in Tamil Nadu has come down appreciably, whether it was serious crimes like murder or property-related crimes. He said Tamil Nadu continued to be first in the entire country in retrieval of stolen properties, as per NCRB data, Palaniswami asserted, countering the arguments of the DMK member Dr K. Ponmudi. Crimes against women and children in the last eight years in Tamil Nadu have seen a significance decline, he added, citing figures extensively from the NCRB. Deaths from road accidents have also come down during the last three years, the Chief Minister noted.
Asserting that his government was firm in rooting out activities of extremist and terrorist groups in the State, Mr. Palaniswami said advanced technology was being used to crack the increasing ‘cyber crimes’ stemming from decline in cultural values in society. The AIADMK government had continuously increased the outlay for the police department, from `2,962 crore allotted in 2010 under DMK regime to `8,084.80 crore for 2019-20 under the present AIADMK regime.
Mr. Palaniswami said in a bid to enhance the response to the public in times of emergencies including national calamities and quicken the police-public interface, the State Police Control room here was being upgraded into a ‘State Emergency Response Centre’ at a cost of `15.65 crore, for the benefit of the public.
Regarding the strength of the Tamil Nadu police force, he said at present there were only 9,694 vacancies in all. Steps have been initiated to fill these posts through the Uniform Services Recruitment Board, which included 969 sub-inspectors and 8,427 second-grade constables, Palaniswami added.
With regard to police housing, Palaniswami said under ‘Ungal Sondha Illam Thittam’, 2, 2673 houses have been built and handed over to police personnel at Kottaiyur. Another big housing scheme on an extent of 52 acres there has been identified for implementation, he said, adding, this scheme will be extended to ten more districts in TN.
Refuting DMK MLA I Periyasamy’s observations on idol theft cases, the Chief Minister said all facilities have been provided to the special officer Pon. Manickavel as per the court orders and he listed each of them in detail.
