Assam: Will ‘Smart Police Stations’ cover up for women security and illegal migrants in Assam?

GUWAHATI: The increase in rate of crime against women and children in the Northeast Indian state of Assam has risen at an alarming rate and this has been proved by the National Crime Records Bureau (NDRB) report that was recently released. As per the report, Assam stands 1st among Northeast Indian states in terms of crime against women.

The new policing units, named SMART police stations, (the acronym stands for strict, sensitive, modern, mobile, alert, accountable, reliable, responsive, techno-savvy and trained) will be "citizen-friendly and clean. The model stations are expected to have a receptionist to guide visitors to the relevant officer or file a complaint by going to a computerized kiosk, which would be linked with a back-end system as well as closed-circuit television for tracking follow-up action.

With recent cases of rape and abuse of women that has come to light, the Assam government, it seems, has decided to tackle the uncontrolled menace by  making all police stations in the state smart police stations in a phased manner.  "A smart police force is the order of the day and technology would be able to help the police to efficiently tackle law and order situations", said Assam Chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

The chief minister also said policemen must instill fear in the hearts of the antisocial elements and inspire trust and goodwill among the common people of the State. He also added that the Assam police should aim to become the best police force in the country.

"For a corruption and crime free society Assam Police would need to be proactive and must work towards retaining the faith of the people on the police force as protector and guardian of law of the land:, the CM added.

However, it may be mentioned that with the recent case of many security personnel from the state being directly involved in providing fake Indian passports to illegal Bangladeshi migrants, a smart police force setting an example for younger generations is far from reality.  It may be mentioned that Sikkim, another state of the Northeast Indian region, despite not having a 'Smart Police Station' has earned the reputation of becoming the safest state for women in India.

Assam and other Northeast Indian states should follow suit and learn from small but efficient states like Sikkim and Nagaland, for that matter who, despite not having a smart police station definitely do possess smart police men who act effectively against crime.

–Shweta Raj Kanwar

shweta@thenortheasttoday.com

(The opinions expressed by the writer are the writer's own and TNT-The Northeast Today may or may not subscribe to the same views)