Police launch SMS alert service under Sakala

Published : The Hindu

With an aim to end applicants’ frequent trips to police stations to know the status of their applications for various

services, the Police Department has introduced SMS alert facility for 21 services under Guarantee of Services (GSC) to
Citizens Act, 2011, popularly called Sakala.
An automatic SMS is generated as soon as the application is received and entered into the Police IT system, either at
a police station or an office, and sent to the applicant’s mobile phone intimating the 15-digit GSC number. As soon as
the service is ready, another SMS is sent asking the applicant to collect the document.
Through this, the department intends to avoid unnecessary public-police contact , said Praveen Sood, Additional
Director-General of Police, Police Computer Wing. He said that lack of information and transparency compels people
to visit police stations and the SMS facility keeps the applicant informed.
Mr. Sood told The Hindu that considerable work had been done at the backend through the Police IT project for six
years before introducing the SMS facility. Citing the example of police verification service, Mr. Sood said that there
were 33 sets of applications for various verifications. Application forms had to be collected from the office of the
Superintendent of Police in the districts or the Commissioner of Police at the city commissionerates. The applicant
had to pay the fee at a treasury office and submit the application at the office of the Superintendent of Police or the
Commissioner.
The application then used to be routed through subordinate officers in the hierarchy chain before reaching the
jurisdictional police station facilitating the station in-charge to check criminal background. After his certification, the
application would take the same route to reach the office of the Superintendent of Police or the Commissioner. This
used to take at least three months and the applicant would have made at least 30 visits to various offices.
Since a year, the system has gone under a thorough overhaul and only one application form is prescribed, which is
available online on the department website. The applicant can fill the form after taking a print and pay the fee either
online, www.bangaloreone.gov.in, or through BangaloreOne/KarnatakaOne centres. Then he has to visit the office of
the Superintendent of Police or the Commissioner, show the fee payment receipt and submit the application form.
The application has to be mandatorily entered into the system, after which a GSC number is generated and an SMS is
sent to the applicant, if he has provided his mobile number.
The application would electronically be transmitted immediately to the jurisdictional police station and the service
has to be delivered within the time stipulated by the GSC Act. Upon the service being ready, another SMS is sent to 

the applicant asking him to collect the document, Mr. Sood said. The applicant can also check application status on
Sakala website using the GSC number.
While 11 services are available under Sakala, 10 more services will be available from December. The department can
now deliver SMSs for 19 of these 21 services and the remaining three will be covered shortly, Mr. Sood said. 

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