Chennai:
It's raining sops for cops in Tamil Nadu. Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today announced a slew of schemes in a bid to make the khaki force a happy lot. For instance, families of all police officers from the rank of Sub Inspectors upwards would now foot cheaper mobile bills are they are being brought under Closed User Group [CUG] schemes, which charge less for calls made to numbers within the group. Soon Inspectors in the Intelligence Wing of the department will also be given smartphones.
Happy meals are also in order for the state's cops. The state government has doubled the daily Feeding Allowance given to police personnel from Rs 100 to Rs 200 for those posted in Chennai. The allowance for those in other parts of the state has been hiked from Rs 75 to Rs 150.
In a bid to make life easier for policewomen who have children, the Chief Minister has announced the setting up of creches at all district and battalion headquarters.
Police personnel looking to cut some flab will now have access to gyms - 200 police stations in rural areas would be equipped with fitness centres.
The beneficiaries of Ms Jayalalithaa's latest sops include sniffer and tracking dogs - their daily feeding allowance would now go up from Rs 85 to Rs 200.
Chennai's public has reasons to smile too. Police patrolling in the city is set to be boosted with the addition of 2000 two-wheelers and closed circuit cameras are set to be installed in 2700 locations.
Police personnel have largely welcomed the new measures. But, they have other concerns they want addressed as well. Mr Narashiman, a Sub Inspector, told NDTV, "We request our Chief Minister to give us at least one day off in a week. We too are human beings and we neglect our families."
Mr Arun, a photographer in the department said, "It would be nice if the Chief Minister would do the needful to grant us promotion. For years, we slog without a change in our designation. I suffer from depression because of this."
Political observers however say that these are short-term gimmicks meant to keep the police force in good humour especially before elections. They argue that much needs to be done in the police department including filling up of vacancies, improving infrastructure, enhancing technology, and enhancing the police force's quality of life.