New rules to set up police stations

Considering changes in state and city’s population and demography, the home department has formulated a new policy for creating new police stations.

Considering changes in state and city’s population and demography, the home department has formulated a new policy for creating new police stations.

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Currently, there are no specific regulations for setting up police stations in the state; a set of rules on creation of posts dates back to 1960.

The current procedure involves sending the proposal for a new police station to the Director General of Police (DGP), who would then give his opinion on the same.

In the absence of rules, the DGP would use his own discretion to decide if the police station should be set up in the proposed location or not, which could not be questioned.

The 15-point regulation that was approved on Wednesday calls for a police station within every 4-km in cities such as Mumbai, in areas inhabited by VIPs, high-traffic zones where there are regular jams, near sensitive areas like courts, stadiums, dams, religious monuments and even in Special Economic Zones.

“The new policy considers the changes that have taken place in the society, both demographically as well as socially,” said Umeshchandra Sarangi, additional chief secretary, home.

As of now there are 879 police stations in Maharashtra.

“But now we will be following the masterplan that will be submitted, chart out a phase-wise programme that will be chalked out considering the priority of the proposals as per the policy,” he said.

“The allotment of the funds will be carried out accordingly,” he added.

The home department of Maharashtra state has earmarked Rs300 crore for construction of police buildings, training institutes and police stations in its financial outlay.