Govt to set up one SMART police station in each state

New Delhi: Taking cue from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pitch for SMART policing, the Home Ministry has decided to establish one such model police station in each state and has asked the state governments to submit their proposal by 31 January, 2015. [caption id=“attachment_2021117” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] The Prime Minister had said at a meeting of the country’s top police brass in Guwahati last month that he wanted a force which takes care of the country’s law and order in an efficient and SMART manner. “By ‘SMART’ policing, I mean S for strict but sensitive, M for modern and mobile, A for alert and accountable, R for reliable and responsive and T for techno-savvy and trained”, Modi had said. As a first step towards SMART policing, Home Minister Rajnath Singh has decided to set up one model SMART police station in each state and asked the state governments to submit their proposal with specific location and components by 31 January, 2015. The Home Ministry has decided to allocate specific funds for setting up of SMART police stations shortly, an official statement said. The central government will work with the state governments for setting up more SMART police stations during the next financial year. Efforts will also be made to involve the private sector and their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes to expand the roll out of SMART police. The SMART police station would become the foundation towards SMART policing. A SMART police station should be citizen-friendly and clean. It should also meet the operational and welfare needs of the police personnel posted there, the statement said. Some suggested features of a SMART police station are: basic amenities for visitors, waiting area, toilets, drinking water, rest room for constables, including separate room for women constables. Other features of a SMART police station include natural lighting and ventilation, solar lighting, energy-saving features. CCTV cameras, safe and secure armoury, record room, communication room for wireless, automated kiosks for filing of complaints by public (with a back-end system for tracking follow up action) are among other features. “The police station is the key functional unit from where the police discharges its tasks of maintenance of law and order and investigation of cases etc. The police station is also the primary point of interaction between the citizens and the police,” the statement said. PTI