Believe it or not, the police stations in Delhi have figured among the best in Asia and are in the race for the best in the world. Notwithstanding the criticism for deteriorating law and order situation in the national Capital, the Barakhamba Road police station has been adjudged the best police station in the continent in a survey conducted by Altus Global Alliance (AGA), an internationally acclaimed alliance of NGOs in countries like the US, Russia, Brazil and others.

Twenty two countries, including US, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Brazil, and Chile, participated in the survey. Around 1,340 police stations were assessed by the agency, which also saw participation by over 1.2 lakh people.

Unique in its survey, AGA, which is an alliance of NGOs from different countries, gave full marks to Barakhamba Road police station based on criteria like transparency, accountability, detention condition, community orientation, equal treatment and physical condition. The ones in Delhi ranked the best among all police stations in India. In Delhi itself it was a tough fight as Kamla Market police station and CR Park too were in the running but lost by a slim margin. “It is indeed a moment of pride for the Delhi Police. Efforts of everyone have paid off. With the survey we also got a chance to introspect and analyse the points where we lacked,” said Additional Commissioner of Police (New Delhi district) SBS Tyagi.

The vigilance unit of Delhi Police in coordination with the NGO conducted the survey during the Global Police Station Visitor’s week in November 2013. The Delhi Police not just stood a winner but also performed far better than the rest of India, including Mumbai. While the aggregate score for the rest of the country was 79.44 per cent, Delhi scored 83.38 per cent. Forty five police stations participated in Delhi during the audit and the residents of each area were asked to fill a form rating their own police station. With this win coming home the then Station House Officer (SHO) of Barakhamba Road police station Satish Sharma and Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi district) Madhur Verma have been invited to International Conference on Police reforms at Antigua, Guatemala on June 6 where they will be felicitated for the achievement. “India has won accolades on an international level and it’s a proud moment for all of us having achieved this feat. A big responsibility lies on my shoulder as I will be representing the country and the Delhi Police,” said Verma.