By IANS,
Lucknow : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Tuesday ordered a revamp in the policing structure in nine major districts to improve crime control.
“This was being done with a view to improving the quality of policing as the existing three-tier system has proved to be ineffective and laden with multiple command,” Mayawati told a press conference here.
Under the previous arrangement, there were three levels of command – a district superintendent of police, a deputy inspector general of the range and an inspector general of zone.
While scrapping the post of zonal inspectors general of police, she decided to entrust the inspector generals (IGs) with the task of deputy inspector generals (DIGs), who in turn will assume the duties of district police chiefs.
“While the existing system will continue in the rest of the state, the new arrangement will be introduced shortly in Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad, Agra, Gorakhpur, Barielly, Meerut, Varanasi and Moradabad, where the charge of senior superintendent of police will be entrusted to DIG-rank officers,” she said.
“The increasing number of political rallies, protests and demonstrations have also necessitated the creation of a separate position of superintendent of police (law and order),” the chief minister added.
“What had prompted me to bring about these changes was the need for more improvement in crime control and law and order across the state. What we inherited from the Samajwadi Party government in May 2007 was a total mess, so it was bound to take some time to improve,” Mayawati pointed out.
“Yesterday’s incident in Etawah where an eight-year-old girl was tortured by police and today’s broad daylight killing of two traders in the state capital have shown that the police need to pull up their socks. And the structural changes in the policing are being done with a view to assisting them to smoothen the working,” she said.
“I am confident the change will bring about drastic improvement in the working of the police and ultimately prove beneficial to people,” the chief minister said.