Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday sharpened his government’s law-and-order pitch ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, highlighting police reforms, technology and enforcement infrastructure as key elements of its governance record and contrasted it with the situation before 2017, alleging that dreaded mafiosi held sway across the state and parallel systems of power operated in several areas back then.
Addressing a programme at Lok Bhavan, he said Uttar Pradesh had become the first state to implement the police reforms advocated by former director general of police Prakash Singh. He said seven police commissionerates were now functioning in the state and described the policing approach as a combination of ideas, courage and technology.
The chief minister also flagged off 87 advanced interceptor vehicles for deployment across districts, honoured 26 police personnel for gallantry, felicitated the family of martyred STF inspector Sunil Kumar Singh and released Prakash Singh’s book ‘Sangharsh’ on police reforms.
He said more than 14 lakh cameras had been installed in cities under the Safe City initiative, while Integrated Command and Control Centres had been established in districts. The surveillance network, he said, was helping police prevent crimes and detect incidents after they occurred.
Referring to Prakash Singh’s campaign for police reforms, Yogi said the former DGP had pursued the issue before the Supreme Court and that Uttar Pradesh had subsequently taken steps towards implementing the reforms.
{{/usCountry}}Referring to Prakash Singh’s campaign for police reforms, Yogi said the former DGP had pursued the issue before the Supreme Court and that Uttar Pradesh had subsequently taken steps towards implementing the reforms.
{{/usCountry}}The chief minister said before 2017, the police faced inadequate infrastructure and limited training capacity, with around 6,000 personnel being trained annually. He also referred to poor residential facilities for police personnel, the disbanding of PAC battalions and prolonged curfews following communal violence in Kosi Kalan, Meerut, Aligarh and Muzaffarnagar.
He said his government had worked since 2017 to change these conditions while advancing the state in areas, including the economy, employment, technology and implementation of welfare schemes.
In an apparent reference to critics, he said it was easy to sit in a closed room and comment on others, but even powerful people could become vulnerable in an atmosphere of lawlessness. A secure environment, he said, was essential for healthy public discourse as well as social and economic development.
Recalling the security situation in the Terai region, the chief minister said movement there had once required police and military protection and largely stopped after sunset. He said Prakash Singh had faced such challenges during his tenure as DGP.
STF INSPECTOR’S FAMILY FELICITATED
Yogi paid tribute to late STF inspector Sunil Kumar Singh, saying receipt of the Kirti Chakra marked the first such honour for a member of the Uttar Pradesh Police.
Singh killed four criminals during a face-to-face encounter in Shamli’s Jhinjhana area in January 2025 but suffered fatal injuries during the operation and later died in the line of duty. The chief minister felicitated Singh’s wife Munesh Devi and family members with cash assistance and an ‘angvastram’.
GALLANTRY MEDALS PRESENTED
The chief minister also conferred President’s Police Medals for Gallantry on 16 personnel whose awards had been announced for Republic Day 2025 and Chief Minister’s Police Medals for Gallantry on 10 personnel whose awards had been announced for Republic Day 2026.
The recipients included personnel from the STF, civil police, police commissionerates and PAC. Among those honoured were STF constables Devdatt Singh, Rajan Kumar and Ritul Kumar Verma; IPS officer Nipun Agarwal; additional DCP Swatantra Kumar Singh; STF inspector Amit; Lucknow DCP Diksha Sharma; Bulandshahr inspector Dharmendra Singh Rathore; STF sub-inspector Keshav Shandilya; STF inspector Ghanshyam Yadav; STF constable Amit Tripathi and Ghaziabad commissionerate Inspector Manish Bisht.
INTERCEPTORS TO BOOST ROAD SAFETY ENFORCEMENT
The 87 interceptor vehicles, comprising four-wheelers and two-wheelers equipped with advanced equipment, will be deployed across districts to strengthen enforcement of traffic rules and road-safety standards.
The chief minister described road safety as a major challenge. Citing figures, he said that 23,000-24,000 people died in road accidents every year in Uttar Pradesh. He said road-safety violations affected not only individuals involved in crashes but also their families and society, stressing the need for technology-backed enforcement to reduce fatalities.
FORMER DGP PRAKASH SINGH’S ‘SANGHARSH’ RELEASED
eleasing Sangharsh, Yogi said the book brought together Prakash Singh’s experiences and perspectives on policing and police reforms. He said ideas acquired significance only when translated into practice and noted that Singh had confronted challenges during his police career and continued to advocate reforms after retirement.
Social welfare minister Asim Arun, former DGP Prakash Singh, DGP Rajeev Krishna, additional chief secretary (Home) Sanjay Prasad, Swami Dharmabandhu, Prabhat Prakashan’s Pawan Agarwal and senior police officers, personnel and their family members attended the programme.