Published : DNA
Sakala, the state government initiative that ensures time-bound service delivery, now includes certain services of the police department too.
Tasks like issuing a copy of the first-information report to the complainant, no-objection certificate for passport verification, issuing arms licence, renewing its verification, police verification of servants/housemaids and others now come under Sakala, informed Praveen Sood, additional director general of police, State Crime Records Bureau. The service has been issued on a trial basis.
Also, the police are starting a SMS service under Sakala. It means the complainants will get status updates of their cases via SMS. To avail of this service, the complainants will have to send their 15-digit Sakala number (which they will get at the time of filing the application) to 9243355233 or 9212357123. Applications for availing of the services are available on Sakala website. Applicants can pay the fees at BangaloreOne centres and submit their application at the police commissioner’s office along with their mobile phone number to get SMS updates.
Sood said the SMS update service was started last week itself and has been getting a good response from the people.
Talking about the relevance of the SMS update system, a senior police officer said many times it happens that jurisdictional police tell the complainants that the case is under investigation even after a B-report (stating that the complaint was baseless) has been filed. He said many cases are not being attended to in time as officer do not look into them. By including the service under Sakala, the scope for evading work narrows drastically.
Sood said the state police want to make complete use of technology and make police more people-friendly. He said the police do not want that people should have to roam around police stations to get information about their case. He said the process of calling tenders for the computer wing of the SCRB would start in three-four months.
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