Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy on Monday stressed the need to strenghten the intelligence-gathering mechanism in the police force.
In his address to the 55th Police Raising Day parade at the Police Complex in Gorimedu, the Chief Minister said intelligence-gathering was one of the areas that the force needed to concentrate on.
“The government is satisfied with the maintenance of law and order. However, one area where the force is lacking in performance is intelligence-gathering,” he said.
‘Increased tourist flow’
The maintenance of law and order is one of the important reasons for increased tourist flow to the Union Territory, he said.
The Chief Minister said his government was willing to consider the genuine demands of the police force. Steps were being taken to provide more vehicles to increase police patrolling, he said.
On recruiting more constables, the Chief Minister said around 15,000 youth had applied for the test. Indirectly referring to the objection raised by the Lieutenant Governor on increasing the minimum age limit to 24 years for police recruitment, the Chief Minister said: “You know the problem we face. We will soon overcome the obstacles.”
The government is planning to increase the monthly spending limit of police stations from ₹500 to ₹25,000. The police have been demanding increase in monthly spending capacity, he added.
Complimenting the police for cracking the murder of a pawn broker that occured in 2014 in Nellithope, he said the police had proven its capability by arresting all the culprits.
He also complimented the Crime and Intelligence (C&I) wing for arresting all those involved in the ATM fraud case.
The handling of the case, that had inter-State ramifications, had won laurels for the police force.
The government has decided to honour the C&I team by providing a sum from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund, he said. Before his address, he inspected the guard of honour.
Director General of Police S. Sundari Nanda said the force was successful in maintaining law and order. The increase in tourist footfall showed how the law and order situation was under control, the DGP said.
However, there was a tendency to blow every small incident out of proportion.
Minister for Tourism Malladi Krishna Rao, Social Welfare Minister M. Kandasamy and Chief Secretary Ashwani Kumar were among those who attended the celebrations.