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Police housing in state of utter neglect

Prashant Pandey

AS IF the housing problem for Delhi police personnel was not enough, those lucky enough to get an official accommodation are saddled with the problem of lack of sanitation and maintenance. The decision of the Delhi police to keep the maintenance funds at their disposal seems to have backfired.

Earlier, the practice was to allocate a certain amount of money to the Public Works Department every year for sanitation and maintenance purposes. However, the sorry state of affairs led the Delhi police to decide that they would keep the funds at their disposal. The idea was mooted in September last year and the scheme was put in place early this year. A team of PWD was also attached to the Delhi police for assisting them.

The figures for the first quarter of the current financial year, however, indicate that only an average of about 20 per cent funds were used in the districts. The police maintained that some procedural delays in the disbursal of funds resulted in their lying idle.

In fact, the idea itself took a long time coming. Over the years, the PWD was being allotted a steadily increasing amount in lieu of maintenance. The allotment, which at one point was Rs. 11 crores, was increased to Rs. 17 crores last year. One-third of the amount, however, was used largely by the agency to pay its labourers. The remaining amount was not found enough for more than a dozen police colonies and 128 police stations. Even renovation of toilets at the police headquarters took a lot of persuasion by the Delhi police last year.

Amid the delays, the condition of the houses in the police colonies has remained bad. In fact, this past weekend residents of a police colony in Kaushambi, Ghaziabad, took to the streets protesting against problems of sanitation and drinking water. Their problem was further compounded by the fact that their colony falls in Ghaziabad and not in Delhi.

There also seems to be another aspect to the new scheme. The lower subordinates find it difficult to convey their problems to their superiors. "Earlier we could apply some pressure on the PWD employees and get our work done. Now it is difficult for the lower staff to complain about problems to their superiors," said a Delhi police personnel.

Closely related to the problem of lack of maintenance is construction of new police station buildings and colonies. While in the past year a couple of police station buildings were inaugurated, there are still about 30-odd police stations which do not have a building of their own. With the Delhi police submitting to the court that 11 new police stations would be opened, the problem needs to be looked into soon.

In fact, last year it was decided that construction companies, apart from the Central Public Works Department, should be roped in to speed up the process. However, after the initial efforts, the scheme seems to have faltered. Sources pointed out that one of the companies which did some construction work for the Delhi police was not paid and has since refused to proceed further. Not much time is left for the Delhi police to use the allotted Rs. 800 crores, for the current five-year plan, towards construction activities.

Last month, the Delhi police increased the amount to be given to the personnel as relief, compensation or loans. While that was a welcome step, it is certainly not a desirable state for personnel to live with constant nightmare of lack of basic amenities. That is, if they are lucky to get a house.

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