10-point plan to improve policing in UP

LUCKNOW : The state home department has drawn a 10-point plan to improve policing and rein in criminals in Uttar Pradesh.

Implementing a smart city surveillance system, strengthening intelligence units and launching citizen services are part of this plan. Raising a special police operation team and conducting crime mapping of the state are among its other elements.

The plan comes soon after the killing of 19 criminals in encounters in various districts in six months.

Apparently justifying the encounters, chief minister Yogi Adityanath had said at a Dussehra function in Gorakhpur last week: “The police will reply to the criminals, bullet for bullet.” “A clear message has gone to the criminals— either shun nefarious activities or face police action,” he said.

Principal secretary, home, Arvind Kumar told HT, “The blueprint has been prepared. We have appointed a nodal officer for each (component of the) plan and set a schedule for its implementation.”

A separate unit will be set up to monitor the social media and to check cybercrime. The police will also set up an expert cell. The additional director general, intelligence, has been appointed nodal officer for implementation of the plan, he said. The home department is also working on establishment of the smart city surveillance system to check crime in the major cities and to maintain vigil on anti-social elements and criminals. An integrated traffic management system will be launched in 12 cities to check traffic snarls.

The ADG, traffic, has been made nodal officer for the programme, Kumar said. The state police will raise a special operation team to take on terror groups and criminal gangs.

The Anti- Terrorist Squad and Special Task Force will be strengthened too, he said. As part of the citizen service programme, efforts are being made to collect petitions and complaints online.

Instead of going to a police station, the complainant will have to visit the nearest Suvidha Kendra (common resource centre) and pay a nominal fee for sending an application to the police station or the police cell concerned.

The state police are developing software for crime mapping with the assistance of the Advanced Data Processing Research Institute, Hyderabad.

Instead of different helplines 108, 1070, 101 and 1090, the state police will have an integrated helpline 100, he said. Implementation of the Crime and Criminal Tracking Networks and System is among the priorities of the state police.

The state government has decided to constitute the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) on the pattern of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).