Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh is nearly 1900 km from Tinsukia town in Assam. However, this distance was no bar for Maninder (name changed), a native of Kanpur, to register a complaint against a youth from Tinsukia who had conned him to part with ₹ 25,000, for investing in the stock market, on May 26. He approached the local police in Kanpur and was advised to lodge a complaint via the newly launched Assam Police Seva Setu, an interactive citizen service portal developed precisely for registering such crimes in a nearly real time scenario. As soon as the complaint was lodged, it reached the Assam Police thereby helping them to get into action. Fortunately for Maninder, the portal was launched by Home Minister Amit Shah, a day prior. The accompanying media headlines and relevant interaction with their Assam counterpart enabled the UP Police to guide Maninder.
Bibhas Das, the Additional SP of Tinsukia, who has been entrusted to monitor the portal, was also excited to have their first ever complaint through this portal. He directed his junior to investigate the case. It was cracked in a week and Maninder got his money back. But for the portal, one could not have been sure if Maninder would have managed to register the case, got it investigated and even have his money back in his account.
Obviously, Maninder was all praises for the portal and the Assam Police. “This is indeed a very good arrangement. I registered myself following the guidelines. I wrote the complaint and registered it. I could not believe that police from another State would come to my aid so quickly,” he told Asom Barta, on condition of anonymity fearing tongue lashing from his family members. He said that the portal would reduce the hyphen between the police and the public.
Similarly, a ginger supplier in Assam defaulted in his commitment to a buyer in Mumbai. The buyer, Hiren Kumar, lodged a complaint on the portal which was under the jurisidiction of police in Karbi Anglong district. “After I registered the case on the portal. The police informed me about the progress in the case. I am hopeful that a postive news is around the corner,” Hiren told this reporter over phone.
The portal is an outcome of deliberations, based on the direction of Assam Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, of a meeting called a few months ago by Assam DGP GP Singh in which Special DGP Harmit Singh, DIGP Vivek Raj Singh, AIGP Dhananjay Ghanawat, and Joint Commissioner of Police, Guwahati Pratik Thube participated to evolve ways and means of reducing the communication gap between the police and the people.
“This portal while rebuilding trust between the police and the public will enable the citizens to avail various services. Our instruction to the developers was to step into the shoes of the users while designing it. Something like the portals available for online shopping: convenient and simple,” Special DGP Harmeet Singh told this reporter, stressing that the portal is the need of the times.
He said that at present 26 services can be availed by users with the aid of this portal anywhere and anytime (See box). Although most services are free, there are some services wherein a user fee needs to be paid.
“We are getting suggestions from the users based on which we are developing an Android- and IOS- based app for the portal. There are some features even to assist police personnel,” Singh informed this newsletter.
“This portal will bring speed and agility among the police personnel. While reducing the time lag in registering a complaint, it will also reduce manual work in the workings of the police administration,” Thube said. He added that in the Guwahati Police Commissionerate, a digital force has been constituted to investigate complaints registered under the portal. Police personnel in various stations will also be trained to tackle issues at their end. Thubesaid that suggestions have been received from the people of Guwahati through the portal besides, complaints related to mobile thefts, cyber fraud, etc.
Sharing his experience, Tinsukia SP Abhijit Gaurav Dilip said that in a very short time, his district has witnessed manifold benefits of this portal.
