Jammu, India,April 12 (Scoop News) – The Director General of Police (DGP), Kuldeep Khoda has said that the militancy in the State has made Jammu and Kashmir Police to adopt a new way of challenges. He said that State police had passed through vicissitude of challenges by coping with and adopting to increased threat posed by the cross border terrorism.
Khoda was reviewing the police modernization programme at a high level officers meeting held here today. He said that to meet the challenges, Jammu and Kashmir Police is being provided funds for its modernization by the Central and the State Governments since 2001 and the department has been utilizing these resources to the extent of 100 per cent up to 2008 and more than 75 per cent of the funds released for the year thereafter, he added.
Giving details of the scheme, the DGP said that the State Police focused on up-gradation in at least eight components, including housing sector, procurement of armored vehicles and bunkers for anti-terrorist operations. Major emphasis was also on utilization of funds for procuring latest automatic weapons and communication system for operational groups. A dedicated effort was also made through the utilization of these funds in the areas of office automation, training and enhancing infrastructure abilities in the Police Hospitals and Forensic Laboratories.
The DGP further said that during past five years, the State Police is utilizing approximately Rs. 100 crore per year in upgrading its various facilities and logistics. Nearly, Rs. 50 crore are spent each year on construction of buildings and other infrastructure. This was necessitated due to the expansion of the force which has increased from 57,734 in 2000 to 82,418 in 2010. He said that under this scheme, in the housing sector, 88 police station buildings, 43 police post buildings, 150 barracks and 1911 residential quarters have been constructed, thereby increasing the satisfaction level. Also to meet the mobility needs, especially in militancy prone areas of the State, armored vehicles, including bulletproof bunkers, Rakshak vehicles and bullet proof cars are procured. The up-gradation of weaponry and anti-terrorist operation equipments continue to be the main focus and the State Police intends most of these weapons through the Indian Ordnance Factories.
The meeting was told that the modernization phase of the past decade enabled the organization to make major gains and it is now moving into a consolidation phase. The meeting further said that an independent consultancy team constituted by the Union Home Ministry, in a recent assessment study acknowledged the excellent utilizations, both in terms of physical and financial targets under the scheme. The assessment study remarked that there has been “significant improvement in the police services of the State in terms of efficiency, fighting militancy and confidence of police personnel”.
Among others, the meeting was attended by Inspector General of Police (Headquarters), Dr. B. Srinivasan, DIG (Administration) PHQ, Alok Puri and other senior police officers.