Police booths in Delhi fail to live up to the hype

As per the police records, there are at least 130 pink booths and 115 integrated police facilitation booths across Delhi

The Delhi Police’s all women pink booths and integrated facilitation centres, launched over the last two years for enhanced safety of women in public spaces and to provide doorstep services to citizens in the national capital are battling several issues such as irregular working hours and poor deployment of staff, a spot check by Hindustan Times of several such booths across the city has shown.

The pink booth at Pandav Nagar near Sanjay Lake in New Delhi, was shut on on Friday during a spot check by HT. (Raj K Raj/HT photo)

Nearly a month and half ago, Delhi police commissioner Sanjay Arora, in a circular to his force, suggested separate deployment plans for pink and integrated facilitation booths and directed that timings for opening and closing of the booths should be mentioned on a display board in bold letters, outside the pickets. However, the display boards were missing at most of the at least 10 booths that HT visited on Friday. While a few of them were found locked or vacant, most of the booths that HT visited in east, south, and north-west Delhi did not have any display.

HT found that boards mentioning the daily opening and closing hours of the booth were missing at the two booths in southwest Delhi’s South Campus. The timings had instead been put up on an A4 sheet of paper pasted outside the booths.

An integrated police facilitation booth at Acharya Niketan market, a busy market in Mayur Vihar Phase-1 in east Delhi, was open but vacant. A pink booth near Sanjay Van was found locked with untidy walls, and without the display board. The filth accumulated outside the booth, and the barricade place there showed that the police post may not have opened for the past few days. Moreover, no police personnel were found present around the booth.

The integrated police facilitation booth near gate number-14 of Jawahar Lal Nehru stadium, near the CGO Complex in south Delhi’s Lodhi Colony, was found open with at least five police personnel, including a woman constable, present inside the facility. However, HT could not find a display board showing the working hours of the booth. The police personnel deployed there said the booth functioned “24x7”.

Similar problems were witnessed at the facilitation booths near INA market and outside the AIIMS, both places which record a high footfall daily. The timings were not mentioned at the two booths. Two policemen were present inside both the booths. The booth at the AIIMS Metro station lacked the display board mentioning what kind of police post it was. “Police facilitation officer” was found painted on a window pane.

The pink booth at Rajouri Garden main market, one of the most crowded markets in west Delhi, on the other hand gave a completely different picture. The booth located opposite Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya was painted in the usual blue and red police colours – unlike other booths that are painted pink. Also, nowhere on the booth was written that it was a pink booth. A small display board on the wall near the gate of the booth was found with a woman constable, deployed at the site. The officer confirmed that it was a pink booth, but she was unaware that the booth was supposed to be painted pink.

In northwest Delhi, the pink booth located outside Satyawati College in northwest Delhi’s Bharat Nagar was found locked when HT visited it around 4.30 pm. The booth that is operated by women personnel did not have the working time display board. A street food vendor present nearby said the woman in-charge of the booth locked it and left around 4 pm.

Around 5.30 pm, the pink booth outside Mata Sundri College near the Rouse Avenue Court in central Delhi was found locked. A police patrol van, however, was found parked opposite the booth that lacked the display board, showing the timings when the all-women police post opened and closed.

As per the police records, there are at least 130 pink booths and 115 integrated police facilitation booths across Delhi. Pink booths were first introduced in October 2021 in the central district in areas frequented by women such as markets and educational institutes with the aim to provide a safe complaint redressal mechanism for women without having to visit a police station. The initiative was then replicated in other police districts as well.

Similarly, integrated police facilitation booths were first launched in the first week of July 2022 with the objective to facilitate doorstep services such as filing of e-FIRs and receiving of complaints to citizens apart from providing police personnel a place where they can take a break during tough duty hours.

But over the period of time, many of these booths have just become empty porta cabins with almost no utility due to lack of deployment of police personnel. Since the facilities were not properly advertised few people know about their use.

HT spoke to some people in crowded public places while visiting the booths. A majority of them were unaware about the people-friendly “mini police stations”. Some of them said they had heard about the booths but did not know where they were located.

“I am aware of the pink booth concept and have seen it at some places in the city. But if you ask me about the specific place where it is located in Rajouri Garden market, I am totally clueless. If there is one, the police should advertise it by installing posters and banners in the nearby crowded places where women like us often visit,” said Aarti Goyal, a resident of Moti Nagar who was shopping at the Rajouri Garden market.

Ramesh Gupta, an accountant by profession in Mayur Vihar-1, said that like police stations, location of the facilitation booths and the pink booths should also be provided on the internet and police website, so that people can locate them easily when in distress. Gupta said that he often found the facilitation booth at the Acharya Niketan market vacant.

Following information from various sources that such booths mostly remain vacant and were not being utilized, the Delhi Police commissioner issued a circular on November 8, detailing the guidelines that police officers will have to follow for smooth functioning and maximum utilization of such booths. The police chief also suggested separate deployment plans and timings for the pink booths and the integrated police facilitation booths, apart from defining the duties police personnel deployed in such booths were supposed to perform.

As per Arora’s circular, the station house officers (SHOs) were suggested two slots for deploying police personnel in the integrated police facilitation centres– either from 8 am to 4 pm or from 2 pm to 10 pm. Similarly, for the pink booths, Arora suggested three timings – from 8am to 4pm, from 10am to 6pm, or from 12 noon to 8pm.

“In view of the varied requirements of police stations, SHOs may select any one of the timings for deployment (of police personnel) at the booths, which best suits their specific requirements,” Arora said in his order, a copy of which is with HT.

According to Arora’s instructions, the selected duty timing shall be mentioned on a display board in “bold letters” outside the booths. The concerned assistant commissioners of police (ACPs) and SHOs or inspector (law and order) should also visit the booth once in a week, the circular read.

Even 45 days after Arora’s directions, many such booths still lack the timing display boards, HT found during the spot check. A senior police officer at the police headquarters, who did not want to be named, said that each facilitation or pink booth was established at a cost ranging between ₹10 lakh and ₹15 lakh. The objective of these police posts are defeated and public money is wasted if the booths are not utilized and uniformity is not brought in all of them.

“The timings of these booths should also be properly displayed on these booths, as it would help people to know when to visit. If possible, the list of facilities provided at the booths should also be displayed there,” said the officer.

On being asked why much attention is not provided on smooth functioning of the booths, another police officer attributed the problems to lack of police staff, especially women, at police stations and low public footfall at the booths. “Sometimes, police personnel are required for crime prevention, law and order, and other police duties. Not more than one or two people visit most of these booths on a daily basis. Some days, no visitors are found,” added the officer.

Through the circular, Arora also asked the central police control room (CPCR) unit to map all such booths on its geographic information system (GIS) so that the nearest patrol vans can be effectively allocated to a group of integrated police facilitation and pink booths. These vans can visit and get stationed temporarily during their patrols for added visibility.

“Our PCR van personnel carried out a survey and located all the integrated police facilitation booths and the pink booths in the city. These booths are now being mapped on the GIS. One PCR van has been allocated to each booth,” said a senior officer from the PCR unit, who asked not to be named.

A Delhi Police spokesperson said that the matter of non-compliance of the directions issued by the police chief would be taken up and explanation would be sought from the concerned officers found responsible for the negligence.

“Further departmental action may be initiated accordingly. A separate circular may also be issued to collect photographs and details of all pink booths and integrated police facilitation booths so that the current situation can be examined,” the spokesperson added.