The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Delhi Police strength will be 1 lakh soon
THE STRENGTH of the Delhi Police will soon be increased to 1 lakh as the government has cleared a proposal in this regard that had been pending for years, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said at an event, organised to mark the promotion of 25,800 police personnel, Saturday.
“We have cleared the proposal for 15,000 additional police personnel in the force of 85,000 personnel. The file has been sent to the Finance Ministry,” said Singh, addressing the personnel and their families at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.
Earlier, some of those promoted from sub-inspector to inspector ran a 26-km marathon from Dwarka to the stadium. One sub-inspector, Syamalan, wrote “thanks” on 10,000 posters, which were held up by families of the promoted policemen.
Many officers personally thanked police commissioner Alok Kumar Verma for implementing the long-pending promotions of police personnel.
“I know the working environment for our lower ranked officers is very hard and they need to be motivated regularly. When I got to know that a lot of promotions are pending, I immediately asked the police chief to clear them on a priority basis,” Singh said.
He urged policemen not to arrest anyone who is innocent, and also asked them not to work under political pressure. “We never put political pressure on any police commissioner, I can assure all of you,” said Singh.
He added, “You need to become more people-friendly. A team from the police station should always walk around in the area. It will give a sense of confidence to the people.”
Singh also urged Verma to take advice from retired policemen on how to improve the force.
Verma, meanwhile, called constables and head constables the backbone of the Delhi Police.
An assistant-sub-inspector, Bahadur Singh, told The Sunday Express that he got promoted from constable to head constable after a 25-year wait. “My children had stared asking me when I would be promoted. Now they are happy,” he said.