Kolkata, Nov 13 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Friday said his government was taking a series of measures in coordination with the Centre to strengthen policing and improve the law and order situation in the state.
He made the statement as the government signed an MoU with the Centre to modernise the state police force, and launched a mobile application to improve police-public interaction.
Adhikari said the MoU has been signed with the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), a central government agency, to implement various police modernisation initiatives.
Announcing the launch of the ‘Police Mitra’ app, he said it will allow residents to identify police officers responsible for their respective localities and access details about beat officers and their assigned duties.
Adhikari said people should know who their beat officers were and what responsibilities they had, adding that the initiative would improve transparency and strengthen police-public engagement.
He also called for providing them with appropriate electronic equipment.
“Planning alone is not enough; proper implementation is equally important. Adequate manpower is essential for this. West Bengal is currently facing a shortage of police personnel,” he said.
The chief minister also called for daily monitoring of police activities and an effective mechanism to ensure accountability, with clearly defined reporting structures within the force.
He said the police administration should gradually reduce its dependence on civic volunteers and rely more on regular police personnel.
The state government was taking steps to strengthen the internal organisational structure of the police force, with the Home Secretary and senior police officials monitoring the implementation, he added.
Adhikari said joint coordination meetings had also been held at the district level with central agencies on security and administrative matters.
Chief Secretary Manoj Agarwal, Chief Minister’s Adviser Subrata Gupta, Home Secretary Sanghamitra Ghosh, Director General of Police Siddh Nath Gupta and ADG (Law and Order) Ajay Ranade were among those present at the programme. PTI SUS SOM
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.