Presence in border areas to be significantly increased
*Proposal submitted to MHA for creation of new establishments
Mohinder Verma
LEH, Sept 19: After establishing almost all the wings with the available manpower and resources in a short span of two years, Ladakh Police is aiming to have full-fledged infrastructure like police force of any other Union Territory in the country within next 2-3 years.
Moreover, an exhaustive proposal has been submitted to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs for creation of new Police Sub-Divisions, Police Stations and Police Posts and up-gradation of existing ones so that new challenges emerged during the recent years are effectively tackled.
Disclosing this to EXCELSIOR in an exclusive interview, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Ladakh S S Khandare said, “it was really a daunting task for us to perform the duties as police force of the Union Territory as earlier Leh and Kargil being districts only were not having separate wings of Traffic Police, CID, Security and Cyber Crime and requirements, whenever felt, were being met by deploying additional manpower from Kashmir division”.
“However, within the shortest possible time we have established all the wings albeit with insufficient manpower. We are in the process of equipping all these wings with latest technology so that these wings can effectively perform their duties”, he said in response to a question.
Admitting that sanctioned strength of Ladakh Police is not adequate at present, the ADGP said, “Rules for the subordinate services have been framed and approved by the Lieutenant Governor and the recruitment process will begin shortly”, adding “this step will go a long way in overcoming the problem of manpower crisis at the non-gazetted level”.
About the promotion crisis in Ladakh Police, Khandare said, “the matter has been taken up with Jammu and Kashmir Police as apportionment of employees between both the Union Territories has yet not been completed and they have agreed to consider our request till this vital exercise is completed”, adding “discussion is also going on at the highest level over recruitment for the gazetted posts in Ladakh Police and final decision would be taken shortly”.
The ADGP, while responding to another question, admitted the necessity of increasing Ladakh Police footprint in the border areas by establishing new Police Sub-Divisions, Police Stations and Police Posts. “An exhaustive proposal in this regard has recently been submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs and we are hopeful of early decision”, he added.
It is pertinent to mention here that a number of Police Posts were established in Leh and Kargil districts in the past without formal sanction and these are also required to be regularized. Moreover, there are a number of Police Posts which were created in 1960s/1970s and are required to be upgraded keeping in view recently emerged challenges.
In response to another question, the ADGP said, “we have set into motion process for construction of new buildings for District SPs and Model Police Stations in Leh as well as Kargil”, adding “we are aiming to have full-fledged infrastructure as well as all modern equipments at par with any other Union Territory of country within next 2-3 years”.
Admitting that training is an important aspect for both in-service officials and fresh recruits, the chief of Ladakh Police said, “we will have own Police Training Academy but the establishment of same will take time”, adding “on our part, we have identified certain sites and even worked out the requirement of manpower but the final approval will be given by the Ministry of Home Affairs”.
“Because of situation caused by COVID-19 pandemic, we could not invite resource persons for providing training on different aspects to Ladakh Police personnel but we conducted a number of online programmes so as to update the knowledge on different aspects of our force”, Khandare said.
He disclosed that Cyber Crime Wing has been created with sufficient equipment and new lease of life has been infused in Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) by providing latest tools.
Even Anti-Narcotics Task Force has been created in both the districts in the light of the recent reports about smugglers using Leh-Manali route to bring in slow poison for the youngsters, the ADGP said, adding “once the educational institutions reopen we will launch massive awareness drive so that students and youngsters are prevented from falling prey to the menace of drugs”.
When asked, Khandare said, “while the Executive Police would have the same uniform, the specialized wings of Ladakh Police would get different uniform for which exercise has already been set into motion”.
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