Nod for police commissionerate in Ghaziabad; citizens hail move
Agra, Prayagraj also to get commissionerates, will be declared metropolitan areas along with Ghaziabad district; move comes after taking note of improved policing seen in Lucknow, Varanasi, Kanpur and GB Nagar where the system was introduced earlier
GHAZIABAD/LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh cabinet on Friday gave its nod to implement the police commissionerate system in Ghaziabad, Agra and Prayagraj after witnessing the improved policing in Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi and Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida) where the system was introduced earlier.
With this, the number of districts with police commissionerates will go up to seven in Uttar Pradesh. Under the commissionerate system, a police commissioner will head the department and (s)he would have powers equivalent to the executive magistrate.
Briefing the media, energy and urban development minister AK Sharma said the proposal was approved at the cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Yogi Adityanath. The entire areas of the three districts will be declared as metropolitan areas after which the system will be introduced, he said.
He said the police commissionerate system was for districts having a population of 1 million (10 lakh) or more. The three districts meet the criterion.
Agra has a population of over 4.4 million, Ghaziabad 4.6 million and Prayagraj 5.9 million, as per the 2011 Census.
He said the state government was committed to improved policing in these districts as Agra is important from the tourism, industrial and law and order point of view. Ghaziabad has many industries and Prayagraj
is significant from the cultural and religious perspective.
The government is yet to decide the date for implementing the new system and where the commissionerate office will come up in Ghaziabad.
The police commissionerate system was introduced in Lucknow and Gautam Budh Nagar in the first phase on January 13, 2020. The same system was introduced in Varanasi and Kanpur on March 25, 2021 in the second phase.
Sharma said the police commissioner system was effective in crime control and handling new generation crimes such as cyber crimes, fake call centres, drug menace and other online crimes.
He said this system had also been effective in crowd control, curbing incidents of damage to public property as well as improving the traffic system.
Sharma said the officers of the inspector general (IG) of police rank and above will be posted as police commissioners in these three cities. The police commissionerates in Lucknow,
Gautam Budh Nagar, Varanasi and Kanpur have additional director general (ADG) rank officers as police commissioners.
The minister clarified that the entire districts, including police stations of rural areas, will be included in the police commissionerate.
Uttar Pradesh director general of police (DGP) DS Chauhan welcomed the state cabinet decision and said the cities have been selected very sensibly as Agra has international importance, Ghaziabad has industrial significance, besides being the gateway of Uttar Pradesh, while Prayagraj is important as the world’s largest human gathering, the Mahakumbh, takes place there.
Ghaziabad residents hail move
Residents and former officers have hailed the government’s move to implement the police commissionerate system in Ghaziabad, and said it is a progressive system that has been adopted worldwide.
“The justification of it or need for it is because under this system, the power and responsibilities are concentrated in one person. Otherwise, the powers are with the district magistrate and responsibility with the superintendent of police. So, quite often, there are instances of friction/ disagreement about how certain situations need to be handled,” said Prakash Singh, former DGP of Uttar Pradesh.
“Under the commissionerate system, the authority is centralised and a single commissioner is there to take stock of the situation and decide what needs to be done. The commissionerate system has started late in Uttar Pradesh. It will also improve the overall supervision and the public stands to gain as the crime situation will also become better,” he added.
“The commissionerate system will yield better results when the magistrate powers are exercised cautiously and effectively against criminal elements. It should be supplemented by effective supervision or delegation of powers with transparency,” said VK Mittal, president of Kaushambi Apartments Residents Welfare Association (KARWA).
“We have been asking for the commissionerate system for long. We expect that policing will now improve and bring relief to residents,” said Alok Kumar, founder member of federation of association of apartment owners.
Generally, there will also be a reorganisation of the areas which may be divided into different zones with posting of additional police officers and more resources available with the police department.
Under the present system in Ghaziabad, the police chief is of the rank of senior superintendent of police and three subordinate officers, of the rank of additional superintendent of police, are in charge of city and rural areas. Each of these areas is divided into circles headed by circle officers who are in charge of several police stations and each station is headed by a station house officer.
Under the new system, the district police will be headed by the police commissioner, with an additional CP coordinating with the deputy commissioners of police who will head the various zones.
The DCPS will be assisted by assistant commissioners of police or ACPS.
“Under the Commissionerate system, the powers vested with executive magistrates will now be vested with the police chief. These include powers of preventive action under 107/116 and 151 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CRPC). Further, the powers under section 145 of CRPC related to properties, etc. and also under CRPC 133 related to land disputes like right of way, will also be vested with the police. Powers to act under the Gangster Act and the Goonda Act will also be vested with police under the new system,” said a senior UP police officer who wished not to be named.
He said some of the powers under the Excise Act, the Sarai Act and the Arms Act are still with the district magistrates.