Mega budget of Rs 25 crore for Ahmedabad police for modernisation

Ahmedabad, one of the 12 mega-cities in the country, is all set for a revamp of its police machinery with latest technology and tools to handle crimes following approval of a Rs 25 crore project under the Modernisation of Police Fund (MPF).

"The central government has selected 12 cities for megacity modernisation project. Being one of the megacities, Ahmedabad will also get fund to procure latest tools and technology for city police. The funding is done by both Centre and state, based on a ratio such as 50:50 or 60:40," Joint Commissioner of Police (administration) Manoj Agrawal said.

Policing in a megacity is completely different from smaller cities and rural areas, he said.

"A megacity like Ahmedabad requires different type of policing to handle crimes. Thus, a separate fund is created to cater to the growing need to equip police department of a megacity," the JCP said.

"Using the fund, we will set up a state-of-the-art control room, install CCTV cameras as well as Global Positioning System (GPS) on vehicles," he said.

To discuss the needs of Ahmedabad police, a joint meeting of state police officials and Union Home Ministry was held in New Delhi on December 20, 2013.

"After the discussion, a project of Rs 25 crores has been finalised. 60% of funding will be given by the Centre, while the state will bear 40 per cent of the project cost," said a senior IPS official on condition of anonymity.

The project is divided into three different sub-projects, another senior police official said.

In the first 'cyber highway' sub-project, a dedicated fibre optic network will be laid at a cost of Rs 10 crores exclusively for police department to exchange data with control room.

The second sub-project includes installation of CCTV cameras at all the entry and exit points of the city to keep a watch on criminals, the official said.

The third sub-project involves integration of several tools, called as C4-I. It stands for Command, Control, Communication, Co-ordination-Integration, he said.

"We will integrate all our high-tech hardware and softwares under this initiative. It includes installation of command and control systems, GPS, CCTV, auto vehicle locator software, video streaming devices and call locator devices," the official said.