Police trying to give ‘Thuna’ a helping hand

Thiruvananthapuram: Despite being the top e-literate state, which has declared access to internet as a basic human right, the e-services launched by state police through online portal Thuna has evoked a bleak response from the public.
In a bid to popularize the portal, state police chief Loknath Behera has issued a communique (accessed by TOI) addressed to all the station house officers (SHOs). The circular says from December 1, all services including accepting complaints from the public and requests for police verification should be allowed only through Thuna (https://thuna.keralapolice.gov.in).

Police have also decided to register all the petitions coming directly to the police station only through the portal hereafter. “If anybody comes to the police station, he or she must be made aware of the listed services. The SHOs concerned will make permanent arrangement to make entry in the Thuna portal in the police station itself to give the services to the person concerned,” the order issued to SHOs said.

Thuna, that offers information and services to the public through a web platform, could draw the attention of 3,666 people ever since its launch six months ago. While in Tamil Nadu, over 20 lakh people made use of a similar portal launched a year ago.

Behera also told all the district police chiefs that it will be their responsibility to give extensive publicity for the portal in their jurisdiction so that the public can access it from their houses, offices or from outside. Interestingly, the communique by the state police chief also says that many in the police are not fully aware of the portal. “We had designed a poster given to all the police stations to popularize Thuna. It has come to our notice that many of the SHOs and other staff in the police stations are not fully aware of the potential and usefulness of the portal,” it said.

Thuna was launched with much fanfare in the first week of May.