DGP Dinkar Gupta
The Punjab Police has decided to earmark a designated police officer for each of the 12,700 villages of the state to provide “a ready point of contact for the people living in the villages”, state police chief Dinkar Gupta Friday said.
“After extensive deliberations with inspectors general (IG) posted in Ranges, commissioners of police and SSPs, the department has decided to earmark a designated police officer in the rank of assistant sub-inspector of police or head constable or constable, for each of the 12,700 villages of the state.
The designated police officer would provide a ready point of contact for the people living in the villages,” said the DGP.
He further said that the names and phone numbers of the police officers would be shared with the people by displaying them on the Punjab Police website. The Village Police Officer would visit the village once every week to understand the issues and concerns of the community.
The decisions were taken during a meeting where Gupta reviewed the state’s law and order situation with all the SSPs and other senior officials.
During the meeting at Phillaur, the DGP reviewed the performance of districts on parameters like action against terrorism, organised crime, drive against drugs, untraced murders, rapes and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) cases.
The meeting also deliberated upon issues like strengthening security of persons facing threat perception and places “in the wake of the latest internal security inputs”.
On Monday, Shiv Sena Hindustan youth wing president Honey Mahajan was injured while a trader died as unidentified assailants opened fire at Punjab’s Dhariwal town in Gurdaspur district . Mahajan was hospitalised after the attack, while the deceased was identified as Ashok Kumar.
It was also decided at the meeting to set up women help desks in all the 406 police stations with dedicated woman police officers of the rank of constable and above. The names of these woman police officers would also be displayed on the Punjab Police website along with their ranks.
“These officials would provide the necessary interface, besides acting as a bridge between the police and the people. They would also listen to the concerns and grievances of the people and also provide the necessary police support and security. These officials will seek to replace Zail (a group of villages) system of earlier times, with one ASI/HC looking after a group of 8-10 villages,” the DGP added. The village police officer would emerge as a friendly cop and help to build and populate a digital village information system, he further said. All the CPs and SPs made brief presentations highlighting their achievements during the previous year, innovations and projects launched, besides dwelling on their future plans. Gupta emphasised the need for alertness “in the state in the wake of the latest inputs about the internal security scenario”.