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TS police vehicles lie idle
In the first instalment, the city police launched 100 Innova vehicles and 300 motorbikes, but sadly very few vehicles are seen plying on roads.
- Despite training, 135 police drivers fail the driving test
- Lack knowledge on usage of GPS with which the vehicles have been equipped
- Most of the police vehicles remain off the road due to shortage of skilled drivers
Hyderabad: In the first instalment, the city police launched 100 Innova vehicles and 300 motorbikes, but sadly very few vehicles are seen plying on roads. The dearth of trained drivers to operate these high-end multi-utility vehicles is reported to be the reason behind most of these automobiles remaining off the road. The Telangana State government has made these expensive vehicles available to the police to improve surveillance and reduce the response time to attend to distress calls. It is, however, disappointing that the desired results are yet to be attained.
Though, as many as 130 police drivers were trained at Andhra Pradesh Police Academy (APPA) under the joint direction of Inspector General of Police (Provisioning & Logistics), Motor Vehicle Company (Toyota) and five motor vehicle inspectors, who were deputed by the Transport Commissioner to supervise the training as part of the ‘Safe and Smart City’ initiative in the run up to the launch, almost all the drivers had failed the driving test.
Telangana Director General of Police Anurag Sharma had said as many as 135 police drivers had failed the driving test conducted by the Police Department before the launch of the vehicles. The training for drivers and operators was given by the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) and APPA, he said. Given the present state of affairs in the police set-up, the plans to modernise the force and upgrade it to the status of the New York police seem farfetched. In UK and US, the precision immobilisation technique or PIT is employed as part of “pursuit tactic” to force a getaway car to turn sideways, so that the driver loses control and stop the car. But the police drivers in Hyderabad were not even given basic training as to when to use bar light and siren. The police personnel, experts feel, should familiarise themselves with the techniques like driving under poor weather conditions and high-speed car chase occasions. They are also required to be trained in how to take advantage of Global Positioning System (GPS) with which the vehicles have been equipped. A station house officer under Balanagar Zone said, “Vehicles are fitted with GPS systems linked to a web-based tracking system but our drivers need to sharpen their skills.” He also said a briefing and training were required to increase the efficiency of police personnel to handle the computer-related system.
It is quite appalling to see that after spending a hefty amount of Rs 340 crore in providing ultra-modern police vehicles with hi-tech facilities, all the lofty ambitions seem to have ended in failure.
