By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR: The Government of India selects best performing Police Stations across the country every year, to incentivize more effective functioning of police stations and bring healthy competition among them. 1 each from Manipur,,Tamil Nadu, Arunachal Pradesh , Chhattisgarh, Goa, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Telangana figured in top list while Odisha missed the slot, according a list released by the Union Home Ministry on Thursday.
This is in accordance with the directions of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing the Directors General of Police during the 2015 Conference in Kutch, Gujarat. The Prime Minister had directed that parameters should be laid down for grading police stations and assessing their performance based on feedback.
This year’s survey for best police stations was conducted under challenging circumstances by the Ministry of Home Affairs. It was difficult to access police stations located in remote areas during the Corona pandemic due to various restrictions on movement. Consequently, the survey was conducted in accordance with the guidelines of the Government.
The Union Minister for Home Affairs, Amit Shah has said that a vast majority of police stations short-listed from the thousands of police stations in the country are police stations located in small towns and rural areas. This is also true for those police stations which have been ranked among the top 10. This indicates that while availability of resources is important, more important is the dedication and sincerity of our police personnel to prevent and control crime and serve the nation.
The objective was to rank the top 10 Police Stations out of 16,671 Police Stations in the country through data analysis, direct observation and public feedback. The ranking process commenced with shortlisting of the best performing Police Stations, in each State on the basis of addressing: –
Property offence,Crime against women,Crime against weaker sections,Missing persons, unidentified found person and unidentified dead bodies,The last parameter has been introduced this year.The number of Police Stations selected initially from each State comprised of:Three from each State with more than 750 Police Stations,Two from all other States and Delhi,One from each Union Territory.75 Police Stations were selected for next stage of the ranking process.
In the final stage, 19 parameters were identified to evaluate the standards of service delivery and identify techniques of improvement in policing. This part constituted 80 percent of weightage in overall scoring. The balance 20 percent was based on infrastructure of the police station and approachability of personnel and feedback of citizens. The categories of citizens included were from nearby residential areas, nearby markets and citizens leaving police stations. Citizens who were approached for feedback included 4,056 respondents, covering approximately 60 people at each shortlisted location.
All States of the Union participated in this year’s survey with full co-operation to complete the survey during pandemic period. The annual ranking of Police Stations recognizes the hard work of our police personnel, encourages our police forces and also provides a feedback on many aspects of policing in the country for future guidance. It also provides a picture of the state of physical infrastructure, resources and deficiencies at the level of police stations. The annual exercise of ranking of police stations works as a constant guide for improvements.
