Tamil Nadu police to soon get 26,000 whistles, 10,000 lathis

CHENNAI: About 26,000 whistles and 10,000 canes will be procured by the state government under Tamil Nadu ‘police modernisation scheme’. Altogether, they will cost about Rs 30 lakh for the exchequer. A senior police officer said canes and whistles in use at present have become old and the replacement is a routine process.

Police department distributes whistles to all law and order and crime wing personnel. It is planning to buy whistles at a cost of Rs 50 each and will distribute at least 26,196 whistles at a cost of Rs 13.09 lakh.

A sub-inspector attached to Chennai police said, “We never use whistles while on duty. The whistle has turned out to be obsolete as we have mobiles, using which we can easily reach colleagues immediately.”

Likewise, police personnel will soon get new cane sticks (lathis) replacing old ones. The department will procure each lathi at a cost of Rs 165. It is planning to buy at least 10,326 lathis at a cost of Rs 17,03,790.

Assistant inspector-general of police in the DGP office has been assigned to procure and distribute the whistles and canes (lathis) to all district headquarters. A police officer said, “We will distribute these items from July onwards in a phased manner to all districts and commissionerates in the state.”

A police head constable said, “Quality of whistles and lathis do not last unlike the earlier ones supplied by the department.”