Kolkata, March 16 (PTI) Amidst allegations of a rise in political violence in the state, the state government, in its Home and Hill Affairs budget, claimed that incidents of political murders have come down in West Bengal.
A sum of around 12,574.36 crore has been allotted for the Home and Hill affairs department, which is headed by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, for the 2022-23 financial year.
“There were 663 political murders in the state from 2002 to May 2011. But the number is only 156 from June 2011 to June 2020,” the Hill and Home Budget speech laid in the house claimed.
The budget also pointed out that the number of rape cases in the state has nearly halved in 2020 compared to the figure of 2,046 rape cases in 2012.
“The number has come down steadily to 1,128 in 2020. The figure is better than 21 states. In the Kolkata Police jurisdiction, crime against women has come down compared to 2011. Rape cases have come down by 76% whereas dowry deaths by 45 %,” it said.
In the budget speech that was laid, it was claimed that there have been no incidents of Maoist violence in the state in the last ten years.
“As many as 1,395 ex-Maoists have surrendered, and 1,377 persons have been employed as special home guards… There have been no activities of Kamtapur Liberation Organization (KLO) since 2014,” the budget speech stated.
It also lauded the Kolkata police for its effective policing and said coupled with state-of-art technology, it had led to the city being adjudged as the safest city for the last three years.
Since 2011, 1,328 police infrastructure projects at a cost of Rs 683 crores have been completed.
The total number of regular posts created in the police force from 2011-2021 stands at 52,420.
“I want to thank the people of the state that despite several provocations from various evil forces to unsettle communal harmony of the state, the people of Bengal have always protected the secular fabric of the state,” the budget speech stated. PTI PNT JRC JRC
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.