Police will make optimum use
The Police will make optimum use of Rs. 68 crore allotted for modernisation of the force, according to Director-General of Police D. Mukherjee.Mr. Mukherjee told reporters here on Friday that Tamil Nadu had been doing well in the modernisation of the police force and the funds allotted would be diverted to the identified priority areas.Asked whether the allocation of Rs. 68 crore this year also would be suffice to meet the growing complexities and challenges in policing, Mr. Mukherjee said there would be no end for demands and only the priorities that mattered.He said the law and order in the State was satisfactory. However, he said he could not divulge details of the discussions that National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan had with Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and officials on Thursday.The DGP said he was in Coimbatore for the co-ordination meeting with the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) and Petroleum Corporations to discuss security at their installations. Issues relating to provision of armed guards for the installations of the ONGC and Petroleum Corporations in coastal districts such as Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur and Ramanathapuram were discussed.
ADGP (Law and Order) K.V.S. Murthy, District Collectors and police officers from the coastal districts, Inspectors-General of Police from four zones attended the meeting. The DGP said it was a routine co-ordination meeting and not based on threat perceptions or intelligence inputs as reported in a section of the media.To a query on fuel constraints faced in operating police patrol vehicles, Mr. Mukherjee said a proposal for increasing the fuel ceiling was under consideration. On the manpower constraints, the DGP said the State Police force as on date had 13,000 vacancies and the efforts to fill them were under way through recruitment rallies.Asked about policemen being sore at inordinate delay in career advancement, Mr. Mukherjee said "one could see more head constables in a police station" and in order to accelerate their career advancement prospects the age ceiling for promotions had been relaxed. Asked about non-availability of helmets for children and chances of motorists being penalised for children not wearing helmets, Mr. Mukherjee said police officers would take into account these constraints at the time of enforcement.
