OREANDA-NEWS. The Prime Minister of India had introduced the concept of SMART Police (S-Sensitive and Strict; M-Modern with mobility; A- Alert and Accountable; R- Reliable and Responsive; T- Trained and Techno-savvy) during the 49th Directors General/ Inspectors General Annual Conference at Guwahati on Nov. 30, 2014.

Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh as a first step towards SMART policing, has decided to establish one model SMART Police Station in each State and has asked the State Governments to submit their proposals with specific location and components by January 31, 2015. MHA has decided to allocate specific funds for setting up of SMART Police Stations in each state shortly.

MHA will work with State Governments for setting up more SMART Police Stations during the next financial year. Efforts will also be made to involve the private sector and their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes to expand the roll out of SMART Police Stations.

The SMART Police Station would become the foundation towards SMART policing. A SMART Police Station should be citizen friendly and clean. It should also meet the operational and welfare needs of the police personnel posted there. Some suggested features of a SMART Police Station are:

• Basic amenities for visitors, waiting area, toilets, drinking water, Receptionist whom the visitors can meet.

• Rest room for constables, including separate room for women constables.

• Natural lighting and ventilation, solar lighting, energy saving features.

• CCTV, Safe & secure Armoury, Record Room, Communication Room for wireless, computers etc.

• Automated kiosks for filing of complaints by public (with a back-end system for tracking follow up action).

The Police Station is the key functional unit from where the police discharges its tasks of maintenance of law & order and investigation of cases etc. The Police Station is also the primary point of interaction between the citizens and the police.