Amaravati: CM YS Jagan moots special courts

Amaravati: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy hinted at special courts to prosecute accused in crimes against women and children, drugs and measures to reduce reducing crime rate and strengthening of police forces.

Reviewing the law and order, Disha Bill and Disha app, the Chief Minister opined that it is not fair to keep the bill pending so long even after Assembly passing it. He directed the officials to look into the issue and take action accordingly. He told the officials to ensure that the Bill completes due process, and make sure that every woman downloads Disha app on her phone.

Collectors and SPs of all districts were told to pay special attention towards Disha and involve volunteers along with women police for conducting an extensive campaign on the use of Disha app. He emphasised on creating conditions for victims to come forward to file a complaint and told them to focus on adopting a flexible system to ensure the victim is protected.

The authorities informed the Chief Minister that currently 10 courts are working to hear POCSO cases, 12 courts are hearing crimes against women and a total of 16 courts will be available by December, where a new court is being set up in Kadapa. The Chief Minister ordered to appoint public prosecutors to fill all the vacancies and monitor their performance regularly.

Further, the Chief Minister directed the authorities to focus on providing justice to the victims at the earliest and to act with a humanitarian perspective when unfortunate incidents occur against women.

He told them to see that the compensation is provided to the affected families within a month of the incident. Also reviewing cybercrime, he asked the officials to prepare a special action plan for the prevention of cybercrimes by appointing competent officers and including efficient lawyers.

During the review, he directed the officials to take immediate action in making colleges and universities drug free by keeping a constant vigil.

He alleged that the opposition leaders have been making false propaganda about 'drug deal' which has nothing to do with the state. He said that the opposition is acting irresponsibly aiming to tarnish the image of the police department, government as well as the people.

The Chief Minister said that about 15,000 women police have been deployed in village and ward secretariats and asked the officials to train them by December this year. In addition, he told the officials to focus on recruiting 6,000-7,000 police personnel in the coming year.