Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Gujarat: ATM-like kiosk to register pleas against errant cops

Ever heard of a police station where your complaint is promptly and efficiently registered without hiccups? Well, here if the cops shoo you away and refuse to take your complaint it is they who might face the music.
The Sanand Police Station in rural Ahmedabad district has installed an ATM-like kiosk where you can freely file your complaint without fear and delay if they don't register it physically. Just as you click a button on the ATM-lookalike machine, it'll first ask you to select a language - English or Gujarati - in which you would wish to lodge your complaint.
On pressing the button, the machine would ask when did you register or attempt to lodge a complaint earlier. If you had, it would start shooting more questions like the 'name of the police constable who took down your plea' and the date when it was lodged. If no action was taken on the complaint, senior police officials would need to ensure that the policeman concerned who registered it was taken to task.
"Ever since we launched the kiosk, the stream of people who would come to my office with the plea that the cops at the police station were either not registering their complaints or just not doing anything about it has virtually stopped. They now go to the kiosk and what they record there comes straight to my control room," District Superintendent of Police (Ahmedabad Rural) Gagandeep Gambhir told Mail Today. "This helps me get a direct overview of how my cops treat the people and, in turn, they ensure public grievances are promptly attended to," she says.
The machine has several other features. To ensure there are no fraudulent complaints, a camera has been installed that captures the picture of the complainants unless they are rape and sexual harassment cases. There is a video-recording option for illiterate people who can neither read nor write. A helper for such people has also been posted at the kiosk but one could directly record the plea if a third person's assistance is not required. If this works out well, the officials plan to install such machines across the state.
Article Courtesy: India Today
At last we are making some progress.
What started as a movement with IAC has started bearing fruit only after the formation of AAP. As long as it was IAC, politicians had nothing to fear and they taunted IAC to fight elections. They did not expect anyone in the IAC would pick up the gauntlet.
When AAP was formed and won 28 seats in Delhi, these corrupt politicians started fearing AAP and have started unwilling steps to reduce corruption. Mind I am saying reducing corruption unwillingly. As soon as the pressure of AAP is removed they will go back to their old ways. 
We have to make AAP succeed.

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