Staff crunch : District collectorate takes steps to deal with accute shortage of staff at Gandhinagar police force
Shortage of staff in the Gandhinagar police force has apparently made the district collectorate direct private institutes and government offices located in the Capital to make their own security arrangements. They have been asked to avail services of private security guards in their premises.
A letter signed by the Additional District Magistrate, Gandhinagar, has been dispatched to heads of private institutions and government offices in the wake of the recent serial blasts in Ahmedabad and the recovery of bombs in Surat.
The letter asks them to ensure a thorough frisking of visitors by trained security guards, and also report to the police control room in case of any “unclaimed suspicious object” found from the premises of their respective institutes or offices.
The private premises include schools and colleges, major business and commercial establishments, temples, mosques, churches, besides government offices (other than those housed in the Sachivalaya) functioning from the Bhavans and other buildings in the Capital city.
The crunch in the police force is being felt so much, particularly after the Ahmedabad blasts, that it has reportedly compelled the Gandhinagar DSP to write a letter to the State Home Department. The DSP is said to have sought at least 100 policemen from the Gujarat Industrial Security Force (GISF) to maintain law and order in and around the city.
“We are already short of staff. Hence, we have no option but to rush a request letter to the Home Department to spare at least 100 trained GISF personnel to assist the local police in maintaining security arrangements,” said sources in the Gandhinagar district police headquarters. Sources said that police would also ensure that the orders issued by the district collectorate were implemented effectively.
According to official figures, the district police is facing shortage of about 600 personnel, as against its sanctioned strength of over 1,700. There is shortage of about 50 policemen in the Sachivalaya complex, as against the sanctioned strength of 159 police officers. Even in the women police force, 20 posts have been lying vacant for long.
In contrast to this, 298 trained armed commandos drawn from the State Reserve Police (SRP) are guarding the ministers, the ministerial enclave and the Raj Bhavan. “The VVIP areas where ministerial bungalows and the Governor House are located have to be heavily guarded in view of the Ahmedabad blasts. We don’t to want to take chances now,” said a senior official.
Arun Buch of the Gandhinagar Shaher Vasahat Mahamandal, an umbrella of organisation of local NGOs, said: “It’s the responsibility of the government to ensure safety and security of the common man. Keeping in mind the vulnerability of the Capital township, the Home Department should immediately arrange for security arrangements and post armed personnel in all public places such as Civil Hospital, ST depot, railway station, shopping malls and educational institutions across Gandhinagar.”
It is ironical that the VVIP areas in the Capital township are heavily guarded by the trained SRP commandos, while the district police have no adequate force to take care of public places where people gather in large numbers, Buch said while criticising the collectorate.
“The police strength in Gandhinagar remains more or less the same as it was 15 years ago, despite the growing population in the Capital city. Its population has increased from 1.5 lakh to 2.90 lakh in the last 15 years,” he said.
Courtesy : www.indianexpress.com
Shortage of staff in the Gandhinagar police force has apparently made the district collectorate direct private institutes and government offices located in the Capital to make their own security arrangements. They have been asked to avail services of private security guards in their premises.
A letter signed by the Additional District Magistrate, Gandhinagar, has been dispatched to heads of private institutions and government offices in the wake of the recent serial blasts in Ahmedabad and the recovery of bombs in Surat.
The letter asks them to ensure a thorough frisking of visitors by trained security guards, and also report to the police control room in case of any “unclaimed suspicious object” found from the premises of their respective institutes or offices.
The private premises include schools and colleges, major business and commercial establishments, temples, mosques, churches, besides government offices (other than those housed in the Sachivalaya) functioning from the Bhavans and other buildings in the Capital city.
The crunch in the police force is being felt so much, particularly after the Ahmedabad blasts, that it has reportedly compelled the Gandhinagar DSP to write a letter to the State Home Department. The DSP is said to have sought at least 100 policemen from the Gujarat Industrial Security Force (GISF) to maintain law and order in and around the city.
“We are already short of staff. Hence, we have no option but to rush a request letter to the Home Department to spare at least 100 trained GISF personnel to assist the local police in maintaining security arrangements,” said sources in the Gandhinagar district police headquarters. Sources said that police would also ensure that the orders issued by the district collectorate were implemented effectively.
According to official figures, the district police is facing shortage of about 600 personnel, as against its sanctioned strength of over 1,700. There is shortage of about 50 policemen in the Sachivalaya complex, as against the sanctioned strength of 159 police officers. Even in the women police force, 20 posts have been lying vacant for long.
In contrast to this, 298 trained armed commandos drawn from the State Reserve Police (SRP) are guarding the ministers, the ministerial enclave and the Raj Bhavan. “The VVIP areas where ministerial bungalows and the Governor House are located have to be heavily guarded in view of the Ahmedabad blasts. We don’t to want to take chances now,” said a senior official.
Arun Buch of the Gandhinagar Shaher Vasahat Mahamandal, an umbrella of organisation of local NGOs, said: “It’s the responsibility of the government to ensure safety and security of the common man. Keeping in mind the vulnerability of the Capital township, the Home Department should immediately arrange for security arrangements and post armed personnel in all public places such as Civil Hospital, ST depot, railway station, shopping malls and educational institutions across Gandhinagar.”
It is ironical that the VVIP areas in the Capital township are heavily guarded by the trained SRP commandos, while the district police have no adequate force to take care of public places where people gather in large numbers, Buch said while criticising the collectorate.
“The police strength in Gandhinagar remains more or less the same as it was 15 years ago, despite the growing population in the Capital city. Its population has increased from 1.5 lakh to 2.90 lakh in the last 15 years,” he said.
Courtesy : www.indianexpress.com