GUWAHATI: In the first phase of Assam government’s MOITRI (Mission of Overall Improvement of Thana for Responsive Image) scheme, a total of 73 police stations from across the state are currently getting a face-lift. There are a total of 346 police stations in the state – all of which are to undergo revamp under the project in a period of just 5 years.
The first phase kicked off in December 2017, with 73 police stations earmarked to be renovated in two batches of 39 and 34 each. Under the first phase, the government has allocated a total amount of over 189 crore INR which will be used to redevelop these 73 police stations within a year. However, a trusted source in the implementing agency, that is, the Assam Police Housing Corporation (APHC) informed G Plus that the work for first phase is expected to be completed much before time. He further added that the second phase is expected to begin in three months time.
Under MOITRI scheme, government has categorized the police stations into metro, town and rural as these will be refurbished into 2 phases – 28 numbers of stations have been identified as green field (new construction) and the remaining 45 as brown field (extension of existing structure).
Earlier, finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced the MOITRI project during budget speech 2016-17 in presence of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and other members of the government as well as media. “The main objective of the MOITRI Scheme is to create a people-friendly environment in police stations of Assam.
The Assam government has fixed a sum of Rs 2 crore to redevelop each of the police stations,” he said.
The 346 police stations covered under the MOITRI scheme will be transformed into centres for PSDS (Public Service Delivery System). The main motive of the scheme is to convert and remodel all the police stations in such a way that distance between the common people and the police force is abridged.
MOITRI includes capacity building, soft skill improvement, responsiveness to deal with new generation crimes, such as drugs and cyber crimes, along with provisions for counselling of juvenile offenders, gender-based violence as well as special amenities for the differently-abled. It also includes greater community participation in controlling crime and maintaining peace and harmony, providing citizen-centric service delivery.
The scheme will also provide several digital technology systems such as video conferencing, internet connectivity, etc. One of the unique features of the scheme is that it will provide all necessary apparatus by which all cyber-crimes will be able to be detected by the police force and subsequently it will improve the technology condition of the state.
“Presently, if you go to a police station and complain about your cell phone being stolen, they do not know how to tackle the case due to lack of technical knowledge and unavailability of cyber tools. So they approach the cyber cell and solving an easy case becomes a tedious process. However, under MOITRI, these problems will be tackled,” Chairman-Cum-Managing Director of APHC, RM Singh told G Plus.
“Each police station is a study on its own. There’s no single formula that can be applied to all when it comes to refurbishing them,” said SC Goswami, Chief Engineer, Assam Police Housing Corporation. He further added that some police stations, including the Dhubri police station, will be preserved for their aesthetic and historical value. Although they will be equipped with better technologies and tools, the exteriors of the station will remain same.
Moreover, all police stations are to include a proper landscaping designed with a horticulture and floriculture plan, to be implemented along with the construction. Police stations will become eco-friendly, decked with trees.
The governing body of MOITRI is headed by the chief minister of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal and holds a meeting every year to take major decisions and review the works. The executive body is headed by director general of police Kuladhar Saikia that holds a meeting every month to discuss various issues. But the day-to-day activities are taken up by the Assam Police Housing Corporation (APHC) which is the implementing agency of project MOITRI.