Lucknow, Oct 1 (IANS) : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday asserted that the state, which was earlier “marred with riots and curfews”, was brought out of “policy paralysis” after 2017.
The Chief Minister made the remarks during the flag-off ceremony of 87 interceptor vehicles and medal presentation for police personnel in Lucknow.
Addressing a gathering, CM Adityanath mentioned Inspector Sunil Kumar of the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF), who was posthumously awarded the Kirti Chakra, for his exceptional bravery during an encounter with members of the Mukim Kala gang in Shamli district.
“This is the first time that an officer of UP Police has been bestowed with the Kirti Chakra,” he observed.
He added that 16 other security personnel from the state have been awarded with the President’s bravery medal and 10 UP Police personnel have been awarded with the Chief Minister’s bravery medal.
“When technology is incorporated into thoughts and behaviour, it also delivers results. The identity that UP Police has built today is the result of this very thing,” he stated.
“No matter who the person is, no matter how great they may be, no matter the pride of their position, if their security is removed, it won’t take long for them to become a scared cat in an atmosphere of anarchy. Healthy thinking is possible only in a healthy environment…Therefore, the tagline of the UP Police is ‘Your safety is our commitment’,” he added.
CM Adityanath further said that UP Police is effectively carrying forward the state government’s policy of ‘zero tolerance’ towards crime and criminals.
The UP CM then referred to the historic Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in the Supreme Court of India in 1996 by former Director General of Police (DGP) Prakash Singh, along with co-petitioner N.K. Singh and the organisation Common Cause, seeking structural reforms to overhaul the colonial-era Police Act of 1861.
He stated: “Those reforms were first implemented in Uttar Pradesh. Moreover, according to the demands, we have so far made seven police commissionerates in the state.”
In a veiled attack on the previous Samajwadi Party government, CM Adityanath said: “Before 2017, people were reeling under an identity crisis for hailing from Uttar Pradesh. I understand that the police faced challenges because if political leadership lacks the capacity to make decisions and has a weak backbone, how can it set the law-and-order situation, right?”
“They (leaders) used to bow down before ‘mafias’. The latter ruled every district of Uttar Pradesh. Police were compelled in front of them and no efforts were being made to bring reforms in the force,” he alleged, adding that the state’s police force had poor infrastructure and training facilities before 2017.
Adding to the criticism of the previous regime, CM Adityanath further said: “The state was marred with riots and curfews…Muzaffarnagar witnessed curfew for six long months. No one felt safe in the state. As a result of this Uttar Pradesh was being counted among ‘sick’ states. Despite being the largest state, it lagged behind in terms of economy, recruitments, technology, and implementation of welfare schemes for youth, women etc. People were left frustrated and disappointed.”
“But things changed after 2017, the state was brought out of policy paralysis. We implemented police reforms here…Today, more than 14 lakh cameras have been put up across districts for security and investigation purposes. Integrated Command and Control Centres have also been created across districts,” he added.
