A step in the right direction

The creation of two new police districts in the Capital -- Outer Delhi and South-East Delhi -- in the past one year has considerably reduced the burden on the police force and ensured improved and better policing in the two districts. Though the Outer Delhi district was mostly carved out of North-West Delhi over a year ago, the South-East Delhi district comprising 15 police stations that earlier fell under the jurisdiction of South Delhi came into existence only a fortnight ago. The creation of the two districts was necessary for a focused approach in view of the manifold increase in population. The Outer Delhi district housing mostly middle and lower-income groups has an altogether different set of law and order problems such as armed robbery, snatching, bootlegging and street fights and needed more intense policing. Similarly the South Delhi district also had a large area under its jurisdiction making effective policing a daunting task.
But the prolonged delay in the creation of the two districts in a way reflects the Government’s lackadaisical attitude towards policing in the Capital. Over a decade ago the Bureau of Police Research and Development had in its report recommended formation of the two districts and made several other suggestions to strengthen policing in the city.
“Though the recommendation for creation of the districts came over a decade ago, the approval came only after the serial blasts in the Capital. The process for approval has been under way for over two years now and could have taken even longer had the blasts not taken place. This shows that policing figures very low on the priority list of the Government and it acts only when the situation threatens to get out of hand,” said a senior police officer.
Creation of the new districts apart, putting in place an adequate infrastructure for their smooth functioning could take a few more years. “There is still a long way to go for the two districts before they become self-sufficient as the process of recruitment and developing and strengthening special units like the special staff, district investigation unit and the crime against women cell will take at least two to three years. Even the Outer Delhi district, which was created by marshalling internal resources in anticipation of the Cabinet approval, is yet to stand on its feet,” said the officer. Not just creation of the two districts, in fact a host of other recommendations of the Bureau of Police Research and Development also took several years before it got the go-ahead from the Government. “The Bureau’s recommendations for separation of law and order duties from investigation work and computerisation of police stations were implemented a couple of years ago after a prolonged delay. And the recommendation for increasing the number of police stations and strengthening of beat policing are yet to see the light of day,” the officer pointed out.