The state government on Tuesday introduced a major change in the existing system of policing by abolishing all the eight posts of IG (Zone) in Uttar Pradesh. Besides, the government has decided to post IG-rank officers as the head of the police range in Lucknow, Allahabad, Gorakhpur, Bareilly, Meerut, Kanpur, Agra, Moradabad and Varanasi, in place of DIGs. The DIG-rank officers would be posted as SSP in these districts.

Another important decision is creation of a post of the SP (law and order) in the state capital.

Addressing a press conference, Chief Minister Mayawati said her government had taken these steps to further improve the law and order situation in the state.

She said the morale of the police officers was low during the “misrule” of the previous Mulayam Singh government. “It took time for the government to get their morale restored. I have given clear instruction to put an effective check on corruption at the police station level. After the formation of BSP government in the state, the law and order has improved a lot,” she told reporters.

While police officers welcomed the government’s decision to abolish the post of IG (zone), they were not happy with the government’s move to post DIGs rank officers as SSPs in nine districts.

With the decision to abolish the posts of zonal IGs, there would be now two-tier supervision system for policing. “The three-tier system was meaningless. Most of the states in the country have already introduced the two-tier system,” an IG-rank officer said.

Officers said the posting of DIG-rank officers as SSPs in certain selected districts would create an anomalous situation. “As range DIG, the officer would be dealing with a commissioner-rank officer in the civil administration. As SSP, the same officer would be dealing with a junior IAS officer,” said an officer.

The government has ignored the IPS officers’ old demand to introduce police commissioner system in Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Allahabad and Lucknow. “This decision is a pointer to the grip of IAS lobby over the government,” said a young IPS officer.

The government also decided that inter-district transfers of inspector-level officers would now be made by the police headquarters. This would clip the wings of range DIGs who enjoyed the power to make such transfers within their range.

Mayawati justified her decision to create the post of SP (law and order) in Lucknow in order to handle the demonstrators. “The demonstration and dharnas in Lucknow divert the police attention from its real task,” she said.

CM asks PM for Rs 1,300 cr
Mayawati accused the Centre of step-motherly treatment to UP and demanded the immediate release of the remaining Rs 1,300 crore for the proper implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in the state. She said the Centre has so far not released the remaining amount of a total of Rs 4,400 crore it had allocated to the state for the implementation of the NREGA in the current financial year.