CM promises to clear Rs 763 cr police dept dues

Vijayawada: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said his government would clear pending bills worth Rs 763 crore of the police departmentand also promised to hire 6,100 constables.

The Chief Minister gave the assurance while speaking on the occasion of Police Commemoration Day at the Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium here on Monday. “The previous government (YSRCP) has left bills of the police department worth over Rs 763 crore unpaid. Will take decisions in phases to cooperate with the police department and will clear all those bills,” said Naidu during his speech as part of the Police Commemoration Day.

Showering praises on police forces, the Chief Minister also announced allocation of Rs 20 crore every year for the welfare of the police personnel. The Chief Minister said that police is the only force that strives hard for 24 hours a day without taking any rest for the safety of the people. “Andhra Pradesh police is a brand and it has the history of suppressing the factionalism, rowdyism and Naxalism in the state,” he said.

Promising to further strengthen the police system, the Chief Minister said that Rs 100 crore has been released for the department in the past four months. What is regrettable is that the former chief minister who had spent Rs 12 crore for fencing his house did not release Rs 10 crore for fingerprint identification, he said.

The total expenditure for survey stones was a whopping Rs 700 crore in the previous government but the former CM did not release a mere Rs 10 crore for installing CC cameras, Chandrababu pointed out. He announced that the 6,100 constable posts that are lying vacant will be filled soon and the police set up will also be provided with all kinds of technical facilities.

Paying rich tributes to those police personnel who sacrificed their lives, the Chief Minister said that the police commemoration day is observed every year on October 21 in admiration of the services of the forces.

The Chief Minister admitted that the police wing is facing several challenges now as the cybercrime rate is going up alarmingly and felt the need to update the technology to check this unhealthy trend. “Only when we have the upper hand, we can control the criminals. What is more alarming is that certain forces are trying to destabilise the entire police system. I am assuring you all that the state government will solidly stand by you to deal with such situations firmly,” Chandrababu said.

Chief secretary Neerabh Kumar Prasad, DGP Ch Dwaraka Tirumala Rao, IG (Intelligence) Ch Srikanth and senior police officers along with other police personnel participated in the programme.