Gandhinagar: In a citizen-centric initiative, State Police Chief G.S. Malik has directed police officers across the state to dedicate two hours daily to hearing public grievances and ensuring their timely resolution at the local level. The main objective of this order is to make the work of the police more public-oriented and to create a strong system so that applicants do not have to come all the way to Gandhinagar, the DGP office or the secretariat to get their minor or major issues resolved or seek justice.

Under the new directive, senior officers including Police Commissioners, Joint, Additional, Deputy and Assistant Commissioners, Range IGs, DIGs and Superintendents of Police will be available in their offices every day from 12 noon to 2 pm to meet complainants, receive written applications and initiate necessary legal action.

Since police inspectors who are directly connected with the public at the local level are usually busy with court hearings, investigations or affidavits in the morning, a specific time has been fixed for public interactions. Police Inspectors at police stations have been instructed to remain available for public hearings from 4 pm to 6 pm daily.

As per the DGP’s order, time limits have been fixed for the disposal of applications. Under this, it will be ensured that applications containing allegations of economic crimes, marital or family disputes, medical negligence disputes and corruption are disposed of within six weeks, while all other types of general applications will have to be disposed of within a maximum of 15 days.

To ensure transparency, all offices have been directed to maintain registers recording details of visitors and their representations. The order further mandates immediate registration of an FIR wherever a preliminary inquiry reveals a cognisable offence.

DGP Malik has ordered all police officers to strictly follow these instructions, laying special emphasis on the fact that the investigation of every application should be conducted in a completely impartial and judicial manner. DeshGujarat