The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Strength of police weak at stations

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Tamil Nadu

Strength of police weak at stations

The strength was last increased in 1990 when Madurai was upgraded as a Commissionerate status, writes
L. Srikrishna

When Madurai City Police was upgraded as a Commissionerate 20 years ago, the strength of personnel was also increased. Not only the city's population has risen since 1990, the problems for police personnel also have grown manifold.

There are 17 police stations in the city with a meagre strength of less than 3,000 police personnel and officers, including those in the Armed Reserve Police. Gone are days when the police could manage with the limited human resources in the department, police officers say.

Biggest station

For instance, S.S. Colony police station is one of the biggest stations — both the population and jurisdiction it serves is huge.

The police station is functioning with a strength of 60, including an Inspector, three Sub-Inspectors of Police, 41 head constables, 10 Grade I and 5 Grade II police personnel.

There are some vacancies to be filled up at different levels. Its strength was last increased in 1990 when Madurai got the Commissionerate status. Similar is the case with regard to Teppakulam, Sellur and Anna Nagar police stations, among others, police say.

Maintenance of law and order is a complex area in the present day context. Police in the crime wing also feel the heat.

Robbers are not only well organised but also there are many first-time offenders.

The problem is that fingerprints lifted from the scene of crime is new most of the times. They do not match with those in the Fingerprint Bureau, police say.

Till a decade ago, a visit to the scene of crime by the IO (Investigating Officer) would give some real clue about the person or persons involved in the offence. But, this was not the case today, a retired police official said.

Traffic scenario

On the traffic front, less said the better, he says. Not only the strength is inadequate to streamline the vehicular traffic but violations of road rules also have risen manifold. Every day 100 to 200 new vehicles hit the roads, while the carriage space remains the same.

A recent medical camp conducted for police personnel at a private hospital in the city revealed that not many were in shipshape. It was revealed that the police personnel had erratic meal time, insufficient rest/sleep, worked under stress and always worked under pressure.

While senior officers prefer not to talk anything on record, all that they would say is proposals seeking more strength at the station-level have been sent to the DGP office for approval. Further, when officers get transferred, the incumbents are saddled with problems.

However, Commissioner of Police P. Balasubramanian is hopeful of getting things done from the government. The police stations across the State had been classified into heavy, medium and light categories and the department was in the process of sanctioning more personnel as per the new classification, he told The Hindu.

In fact, shifting of the Commissionerate from the location near Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple to a new premises on Alagarkoil Road was also on the cards, he said.

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