DIMAPUR, April 16 � With launching of a Police Commissionerate, Dimapur has joined select cities of the country and second in the North East after Guwahati to have such a system. Liremo Lotha, IPS, has been appointed as the new Dimapur Commissioner of Police.
Nagaland Chief Minister TR Zeliang formally launched the Commissionerate at a function held in the Commissionerate Office here on Wednesday and expressed hope that the new set up will help bring about tangible improvement in the area of policing and maintenance of law and order in Dimapur.
He said strengthening of police administration was necessary to ensure peace and stability in Dimapur, and therefore, the government decided to introduce the Commissionerate system for preparing the police for the future growth and requirement of the city.
With less than 10 per cent of the geographical area of Nagaland, Dimapur accounts for almost 43 per cent of the crime in the State. If Nagaland is to progress and prosper, Dimapur has to be properly administered, said the Chief Minister.
To fully execute the Commissionerate system, Zeliang said police and intelligence should work closely and cooperate with each other to effectively reduce crime rate in the district. He also advised the police department not to deploy poorly trained personnel to the new Commisionerate so as to ensure successful implementation of the system.
The CM also said there was a need for better coordination between the police, intelligence, administration, village leaders and civil society to successfully reduce criminal activities.
Zeliang said the annual expenditure of the police department alone was around Rs 1,000 crore out of the State�s annual budget of Rs 5,000 crore. He said the expenditure �unimaginable� as it made up 30 per cent of the State annual expenditure for the police department alone. He added the government released monthly salaries for the department with great difficulty.
He said though there was no official record, Nagaland had the highest ratio of police personnel to population in the country in the ratio of 1:7. He asked the police department to adopt and update with the latest technology in order to tackle growing sophistication among criminals. He also spoke strongly against favouritism and tribalism while discharging duties and asked both the administration and police to shun such �isms�.
Addressing the programme, Home Minister Y Patton termed the inauguration of the new Commissionerate as a �graduation day for Dimapur Police� and expressed hope that the people of Nagaland will see a new ray of hope to live in Dimapur with more secured and peaceful environment.
Further, Patton strongly urged upon the GBs, DBs, NSF, Naga Hoho, Naga Mothers Association, NGOs, citizens of the State particularly Dimapur and public leaders to cooperate with the police in its functioning.
