Shastri had initially offered to help modernise police control rooms in the city using Rs 30 million earned by his company. But his efforts suffered a setback when he failed to get income tax exemption for the monetary contribution made by his company. That's when he thought of a police foundation along the lines of the one in New York.

"The foundation will not only focus on modernisation, but will strive to improve the overall outlook of the police by changing their attitude and inculcating scientific investigation into crimes. This is necessary with advancement of technology," said police joint commissioner Ajay Kumar Singh, one of the trustees of the foundation that is expected to take firm shape by the end of August. The state government is yet to decide on the five trustees to be selected from among the public. Other trustees include the state chief secretary, other senior bureaucrats and police officers. Singh said the foundation would revive the plan to modernise police control rooms by installing a geo-positioning satellite system.

The state police department has been allocated Rs 6.95 billion for the current financial year. Nearly 90 per cent of this will go to paying salaries, leaving little to help the department modernise. The only improvement the city police has been able to bring about in the past few years is adding to its fleet of vehicles.

Singh pointed out that the traffic police department in neighbouring Tamil Nadu's capital, Chennai, alone received Rs 3.5 billion in the past three years, about half of the total annual budgetary allocation for Karnataka Police. Bangalore, India's information technology capital, is becoming more congested by the day, leading to severe traffic bottlenecks.

"We need to think on this front very seriously now before the city becomes too congested and nobody can move. The foundation, once established, will also give serious thought to this front," Singh said.

IANS