New Delhi: The police force of the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah will now keep a close watch on criminals with “automatic eyes” worth Rs 329 crore. In the form of closed circuit cameras (CCTVs), these “eye traps” have been installed across the state.
In this new scheme “Viswas” of the Gujarat government, a control room of these ‘special eyes’ has been created at the office and residence of the state director general of police as well as the Chief Minister’s office and residence.
In an interview with IANS here on Thursday, Gujarat Home Minister Pradeepsinh Jadeja said: “The security of the state is paramount. That is why the state government has found measures for ‘smart’ and ‘sharp’ policing, and in the first phase toward this direction, ‘Viswas’ (faith) scheme has been implemented. Under this ‘trust scheme’, the state government has covered the police with a net of CCTVs. Rs 329 crore has been spent on this project.”
“In this scheme, we have currently 33 District Police Headquarters, 7 Yatra Dham (Dwarka, Somnath, Ambaji, Palitana, Girnar, Dakor and Shamalaji) and the Statue of Unity added. Right now, discussions are underway to add 250 taluka places i.e. tehsil headquarters of the state. This scheme was recently launched by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Gandhinagar,” Jadeja said.
IANS asked Jadeja why an expensive plan costing Rs 329 crore was given the name of “Viswas”. To this, the Gujarat minister said: “The actual meaning of the word ‘viswas’ is ‘Video Integration and Statewide Advanced Security’. Another reassuring and most important part of this plan is ‘convinced’.”
During the conversation, he also said that Chief Minister Vijay Rupani’s residence as well as office have been covered so that he can see and “understand the realities” of an incident.
After the Chief Minister’s office-residence, the state police directorate at Gandhinagar will be the most prominent place that would function as the control and monitoring room of “Vishwas”.
“This third eye — the special scheme of CCTV had already started about a year ago,” Jadeja told IANS. It has been formally inaugurated recently by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
He hoped that by providing a network of CCTVs to the state police, the people of the state will also develop trust towards the government and the police.
Gujarat Police would be able to immediately reach the suspect or criminals captured in the CCTV footage. The state police believe that with the introduction of “Viswas”, fear of crime and criminals will reduce in the mind of the people. Due to ‘faith’, criminals will now fear the law and police.
Gujarat has 33 districts and 250 tehsil headquarters. The state has a total population of over 6 crore. The government expressed confidence that the network of CCTVs would result in better and more efficient policing.
