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Commissionerate system set up in Lucknow, Noida
The state cabinet has also decided to divide Lucknow into two police districts and put 40 police stations in the metropolitan area under police commissioner’s jurisdiction. A superintendent of police would be posted to manage the remaining five police stations in Lucknow rural area.
Indian Police Service officers Sujit Pandey and Alok Singh were on Monday named as Lucknow and Noida’s police commissioners after the Uttar Pradesh cabinet approved implementation of the commissioner system of policing for the two cities that will give magisterial powers to their top police officers.
Pandey and Singh’s names were announced shortly after chief minister Yogi Adityanath told reporters after chairing the cabinet meeting that Noida and Lucknow will now have additional director general-level officers as police commissioners.
Delhi is among the cities where the commissioner system is in place to give top police officers more powers.
“For the last 50 years, there was a demand for the strengthening of law and order and smart policing. But due to lack of political will, this work could not be done for so many years,” Adityanath said. “We have taken the biggest step towards the reform of the police department.”
Naveen Arora and Neelabja Chaudhary have been posted as joint commissioner of police in Lucknow. Akhilesh Kumar and Sriparna Ganguli will be assistant commissioners of police in Noida.
A woman police officer each of the superintendent-rank has been posted in Lucknow and Noida to deal with cases of crime against women.
Two new police stations each have also been approved for the two cities and more police stations are likely to be set up.
The state cabinet has also decided to divide Lucknow into two police districts and put 40 police stations in the metropolitan area under police commissioner’s jurisdiction. A superintendent of police would be posted to manage the remaining five police stations in Lucknow rural area.
Adityanath said the commissioner system was being implemented in accordance with provisions of the Indian Police Act. He added the Act provides for a police commissioner system in areas having a population of over one million.
According to the 2011 census, Lucknow had a population of around 2.9 million and Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida) 1.6 million.
Adityanath said the proposal to implement the system was pending in the state for nearly 50 years and recommendations in this regard had been given by experts.
Adityanath said the state government faced scrutiny from the judiciary for delaying the decision over the years.
Then Uttar Pradesh governor Ram Naik wrote a letter to Adityanath last year suggesting the implementation of the commissioner system. “There are 19 cities across the country where the population is over 20 lakh [2 million] and three of them [Lucknow, Kanpur, and Ghaziabad] are in the state……The police commissioner system is presently operational in 71 cities across the country,” he wrote.
Uttar Pradesh police chief O P Singh welcomed the move, saying under the earlier system, the police had to depend on the district administration.
(With PTI inputs)
