Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet on Monday approved the proposal to introduce the Police Commissioner system in the capital city of Lucknow and the upscale metro town Noida to give the police more powers to tackle the law and order situation.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath described the move as the biggest step taken towards police reform in the state. Although the demand for the appointment of police commissioners had been long-pending, it is understood that the trigger that firmed up the government decision was the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
The UP police had cracked down hard on the protesters, and has been accused of excesses in curbing the agitation as of the total 25 people killed across the country since last month, 19 were in the state. Of those 19, the deaths of 15 were caused by firearm injuries. The Allahabad High Court also took suo motu cognizance of the situation and issued a notice to the government.
But within the government, there was the view that the response to the protests was slow and police needs to be given more power.
The Police Commissioner system gives a free hand to the local police chief to act freely and swiftly, particularly in a law and order situation. In UP, the Superintendent of Police (district police chief), presently seeks permission from the District Magistrate (DM) in most of the decisions concerned with maintaining law and order.
As per the proposal draft okayed by the state government, ADG (Additional Director General) level officers will be made the commissioners. In Lucknow, two IG rank officers will be joint commissioners who will take over the responsibility of Additional Commissioner (Law and Order) and Administration.
The state capital will be divided into five zones, where four SP level IPS officers will be deployed to take care of security, notification, traffic and crime. One additional SP will be deployed with all the ACPs.
Meanwhile, Noida will be divided into three zones. There will be two joint commissioners of DIG rank. A total of six SP level officers will be deployed and nine additional SPs will also be deployed with them.
Speaking to reporters after the Cabinet meeting, CM Adityanath said: “Today is the most important day from the point of view of Uttar Pradesh Police (UP Police), for which our government has taken steps for improvement The step has been taken after the slow working of the police had raised some questions. It should have been implemented in urban areas with population above 10 lakh but it could not be implemented due to lack of political will.”
A little later, the government announced the names of the state's first police commissioners — IPS officer Sujit Pandey for Lucknow and Alok Singh for Noida.
A report of the UP government recently had pinned the blame for the deteriorating law and condition in the metro cities of India’s most populous and crime-prone state on the absence of the Police Commissioner system.
While commissioners will initially be appointed in Lucknow and Noida, sources said Kanpur, Varanasi, Agra and other big towns could be next. This has been decided despite a stiff opposition from the influential IAS lobby.
Earlier, then UP Governor Ram Naik has suggested implementation of the commissioner system of policing to tackle challenges on crime and law and order front. However, the IAS lobby in the state had opposed the move and the proposal initiated from Director General of Police's (DGP) desk was shelved in the Chief Minister's Secretariat.
Sources said that of late, Adityanath, who also holds the home portfolio, was convinced that like other states including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi and Karnataka, where the commissioner system is seen as an efficient model of policing, UP should also have the same system for a better and effective police.
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