Sheila Dikshit asks police to address insecurity among people

Chief minister Sheila Dikshit today asked police to seriously address the "atmosphere of insecurity" among people in the national capital even as she complimented the force for keeping the city safe from any terrorist activities in the last few years.

Replying to a short duration discussion on the law and order situation in the Assembly, Dikshit rejected BJP's charge of Delhi becoming a crime capital of the country and complimented police for visible security across the city even in the night.

"No one will be able to deny that the presence of police is visible in most parts of the city. Even in night we can see visible police presence. Police must be praised for keeping the city safe as no terrorist attacks or bombings took place in the last few years," she said.

The chief minister, however, said there has been a "sense of insecurity" among the citizens which has to be addressed by the police with utmost sincerity. "If people feel unsafe then police must restore confidence among the people."

She also accepted that there has been an increase in number of cases related to attempt to murder, kidnapping and vehicle theft but said it would be unfair to draw a general conclusion that Delhi has become a crime capital.

Expressing confidence that police will be able to bring desired improvement in security situation in coming days, she said serious efforts are being made to policing in view of the Commonwealth Games.

Quoting a recent CII report, she said Delhi has been termed as the "safest city in the country" by the prominent industry chamber and that various measures are being taken by to further modernise the police.

"Police-people ratio in Delhi is the highest in the country. There are 83,000 police personnel deployed in the capital city whereas services of another 27,000 personnel are taken as and when it is necessary," she said, rejecting BJP leader Jagdish Mukhi's criticism that police has failed to protect "life and property of people in the city."

"The home ministry has been providing all modern appliances including CCTVs, modern traffic lights, etc to Delhi police to tackle emerging challenges," she said.

Dikshit identified ever increasing population as a major challenge and said five lakh people come to Delhi every year who also put additional pressure on security forces.

She said over 30 lakh people travel from cities of neighbouring states to Delhi everyday. "It is a generally accepted fact that increase in population results in rise in pressure on the society as a whole."

Earlier, Mukhi said the law and order situation in the city was "deteriorating rapidly" and demanded urgent measures to address the security concerns of the common man.

Dikshit said Delhi police has also been able to successfully handle all challenges relating to enormous religious gatherings and important celebrations such as Independence Day and Republic Day.

She also stressed the need for making 'Thana-level' and District-level coordination committees statutory bodies so that they can be made more effective.

"The MLAs should be made chairman of Thana-level committees and MPs as chairman of district-level committees," she said. The chairman should also have all powers to convene meetings and there should be no arbitrary nomination of members on the committee by SHOs.

Several MLAs, who participated in the discussion, demanded handing over of traffic as well as maintenance of law and order to Delhi government.

The discussion on law and order, which was scheduled to be held on Thursday, did not take place as MLAs refused to participate protesting against the absence of police commissioner YS Dadwal in the House.

Dadwal was present in the House when the discussion took place today.

Taking serious note of Dadwal's absence in the House, Assembly speaker Yoganand Shastri had directed Delhi government to ensure presence of the top cop during any debate on the subject in future.