Software will weed out cop corruption

Activists like Anna Hazare have often complained about corruption and money involved in police transfers.

But soon it may be a thing of the past.

The police department will have a new software that will help store every detail of a policeman in the central server. And this data can be accessed by officers as well as the home minister while deciding on promotions or transfers. The police are in talks with a few companies, including Tata Consultancy Services.

State home minister Jayant Patil announced this on Tuesday. Patil was speaking at the inauguration ceremony of police quarters in Kalina. The process of receiving and processing requests sent by policemen to the office of the director general of police will be a transparent affair within six months, he said.

“Often, several policemen across the ranks send their requests to the DGP’s office. These may range from seeking a transfer to a preferred place of retirement to seeking a transfer out of Naxalite areas,” the minister said. “We are in talks with TCS and a few other agencies to set up an online software, which will be fed with extensive data about every policemen.”

Speaking about the new software, an IPS officer said apart from transfer requests, the software would help expedite data retrieval. “We will have an improved system and this software will help maintain a database of manpower, police land and buildings, data related to all inventory and service matter, and statistics,” he said.

Patil and several senior officers, including Mumbai police commissioner D Sivanandan, were present at the ceremony. “Earlier police quarters used to be small. But the new buildings are of better quality,” Sivanandan said.