Hyderabad: As many as 30 police stations in the Telangana state were selected by the Indian police foundation for the internal police reforms project. For the implementation of the Reforms Project in the state, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Monday between the Telangana Police Department and the Indian Police Foundation (IPF).

The project will initially cover 15 police stations in Cyberabad Commissionerate and 15 in Sangareddy district. Under this, public consultation meetings will be organized with complainants, victims, accused persons, citizen service seekers, NGOs, judiciary and police personnel to identify key issues and focus areas. Based on these consultations and best practices from other states such as e-FIR, various Community Policing Initiatives & SOP revisions, recommendations of police commissions and discussion with experts, a comprehensive document will be prepared.

On this occasion, Dr Jitender, Director General of Police, Telangana, emphasized the importance of continuation of internal Police reforms in every emergency situation in improving police efficiency and enhancing the police image among the public. He further stated the project will bring in initiatives, best practices and SOP recommendations from other states which will add to various initiatives already undertaken by Telangana police such as Mee Seva, QR codes in police stations, Centre of Excellence and T-Safe application for women in distress (while travelling in auto-rickshaw & taxis).

Abhilasha Bisht, Director, Telangana Police Academy and State Nodal Officer for the IPF project, expressed that this collaboration reflects our shared commitment to building a policing system that is modern, people-centric and forward-looking and also emphasized that Police officers are entrusted with the responsibility of upholding transparency in their actions, ensuring standardization in procedures and being empathetic in the approach towards the citizens to meet the expectation of the public on safety, security and also about fairness, dignity and trust in the system.

Om Prakash Singh, (Retd), President & CEO of IPF (former DGP of UP, CISF and NDRF), highlighted IPF’s mission in improving policing in the states & UT’s through research, capacity building and policy advocacy. He further stated that IPF state chapters have already been established in the state of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, with plans to expand to other states including Telangana. It will be followed by structured training for all police personnel in the selected police stations. The project will be implemented for one year followed by evaluation from independent third-party. Successful recommendations will be scaled up across all police stations in Telangana. The project is simultaneously being undertaken in the states of Punjab and Tamil Nadu.