The
most visible symbol of the authority of the state are the forces
charged with executing its laws-namely the police and the army.
Often the barometer of public opinion of the performance of
the government is greatly influenced by the popular perception
of its most high profile authorities. Governments around the
world have risen and fallen on the strength of public feeling
about law enforcement.
By this measure, it is clear that the newly formed Uttaranchal
Police department has had a critical role to play in the birth
and evolution of the new state. The responsibilities on the
police were two fold. Firstly to continue performing its traditional
functions of maintaining law and order and prevention and detection
of crime and, secondly, to reflect the vision and expectations
of the people of Uttaranchal that demanded a distinct, pro-people,
sensitive and courteous ethos from all agencies of the new state
government, especially the police. In this context, the most
urgent task for the police leadership was to overcome the legacy
of distrust and fear between the people and the police that
had developed as an unfortunate consequence of the struggle
for statehood. Along with this, the new department faced a severe
resource crunch and manpower shortage. The division of the assets
of undivided UP Police is yet to take place even after a year
and almost 70% of the manpower serving here has expressed a
willingness to go back to Uttar pradesh. The achievements of
Uttaranchal Police in its one year of existence can only be
assessed after appreciation of this background.
On 9th November 2000, the Uttaranchal police did not have a
doormat to its name. The cadre structure existed on paper with
a handful of officers in place to chart the course of action
in a climate of uncertainty. With these modest beginnings, the
transformation that has taken place in this span of one year
under the leadership of the DGP Shri AK Sharan and his dedicated
team of staff officers, is nothing less than a miracle. It is
entirely due to the efforts of these indomitable pioneers that
the force has reached where it is today; shrugging off the ifs
and buts of the past to look forward to a confident future.
The major
achievements of the Depratment in the past year may be summarized
under the following categories:
1.Organization
and Infrastructure
2.Law
and Order
3.Crime
and Criminals
|
