Home Minister to form SIC

House passes budgetary demands for Home, Jail and Cooperative departments through voice vote

Raipur, March 21, 2012 

The much-controversial special investigation cell (SIC), which was earlier alleged to have been formed illegally by the police department without the consent of Home, Jail and Cooperative Minister Nankiram Kanwar, will now be formed officially by the minister himself. The announcement was made by Kanwar during his address on budgetary demands for Home, Jail and Cooperative departments at state Assembly on Wednesday. The House passed budgetary demands of Rs 1996.43 crore for these departments through voice vote.

Kanwar informed that the SIC would be comprised of ASP and SDOP level officials along with other staffers.

He claimed that Chhattisgarh would become first state in the country to eradicate naxalism. “Now, it is our time to attack naxals,” he said informing the House that the police had succeeded in debilitating Maoist stronghold south Bastar. He further informed that the police had entered Aboojhmaad forests for the first time and had conducted operations against naxals.

Earlier, he lashed out at opposition Congress for its charges against his departments. “The opposition lacks issues and has weakened as many of its allegations are baseless,” he said.

He termed Congress censures against police an attempt to demoralise cops and said it should have rather tried to encourage them considering their demanding job. “Since 2004, the police monitoring has increased,” he said.

Terming the state as island of peace he said, “Development sans peace is not possible and the police department is discharging its responsibility sincerely and hence the state marked massive development.”

He pointed that once he had stated in the House that ‘inspector takes bribe of Rs 10000’ and said currently no such trend prevail in police department.

He claimed that the Home department had reduced human trafficking, satta and gambling in the recent past. “Even jails are not jails now in Chhattisgarh as we have turned them into reformatory houses,” he said.

He informed the House that the police force during BJP regime had increased by threefold and so did the facilities for it.

“With increasing budget for police, we have increased recruitments in police department besides hiking the salaries of jawans by 20-25 percent as they are fighting at naxal belts to safeguard democracy,” he said.

“Similarly, the family members of martyred police personnel get compensation and aid to get residential provision,” he added.

He said the police would take stern action against those chit fund companies which would deceive public.

Speaking on Cooperative department he said the provision of loans to the farmers at the rate of one percent interest was aimed to financially strengthen them.

The legislators who participated in the debate were - Dharmjeet Singh, Dr Krishnamurthy Bandhi, Raju Singh, Phoolchand Singh, Amarjeet Bhagat and Nandkumar Sahu.