Imphal/Itanagar: Northeast has three of India’s Top 10 police stations with Manipur securing the top spot, besides Arunachal Pradesh at third and Sikkim at seventh, according to the 2020 rankings announced by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Thursday.
The police stations were selected on the basis of their performances, including the manner in which their personnel dealt with crime against women and weaker sections of society and also property disputes, officials added.
According to the police officials, the Nongpok Sekmai in Thoubal district of Manipur secured the first position, Kharsang police station in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh the third and Pakyong police station in Skkim’s East District bagged the seven position.
Police officials in Imphal and Itanagar said they are successful in dealing with most of the missing persons reports — unidentified found person and unidentified bodies.
Manipur Chief Minister N.Biren Singh and his Arunachal Pradesh counterpart Pema Khandu have congratulated their police personnel for their policing prowess.
The others in the list are: Tamil Nadu (2nd), Chhattisgarh (4th), Goa, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Uttar Pradesh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Telangana among the ten.
They have secured the position among 750 police stations initially selected from all the states and Union Territories.
An official statement on Thursday said that the list was compiled on the basis of a survey conducted under challenging circumstances by the Home Ministry.
“It was difficult to access police stations located in remote areas during the Covid-19 pandemic due to various restrictions on movement. Consequently, the survey was conducted in accordance with the guidelines of the Government,” the statement said.
The Union Home Ministry took this step following the directions of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing the Directors General of Police during the 2015 police conference at Kutch in Gujarat.
The Prime Minister had directed that parameters should be laid down for grading police stations and assessing their performance based on various feedbacks.
According to the statement, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that a vast majority of police stations short-listed from the thousands of police stations in the country are police stations located in small towns and rural areas.
The objective was to rank the top 10 police stations out of 16,671 in the country through data analysis, direct observation and public feedback.
Citizens who were approached for feedback included 4,056 respondents, covering approximately 60 people at each short-listed location.
All states participated in this year’s survey with full co-operation to complete the survey during the pandemic period.
The statement further said that the annual ranking of police stations recognises the hard work of police personnel, encourages police forces and also provides feedback on many aspects of policing in the country for future guidance.
“It also provides a picture of the state of physical infrastructure, resources and deficiencies at the level of police stations.