Union Home Minister Amit Shah spent over four hours at Delhi Police Headquarters on Thursday reviewing the law-and-order situation in the Capital and the force’s overall preparedness, officials said. The meeting, attended by Lt Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar and several senior Delhi Police officers, began shortly after Shah arrived at the Jai Singh Road complex at 3.15 pm.
The very long session comes less than three weeks after Shah’s last review at the Delhi Police HQ on 24th October. That meeting (which included Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Anurag Kumar, Police Commissioner) focused on large gatherings, intelligence sharing, crowd control, women’s safety, drug trafficking, organised crime, and traffic.
The discussion on Thursday continued along the same lines, with the same concerns about public order in the national capital. Shah’s visit is his third to the Delhi Police HQ since late August (he was last there on 30 August). The sheer number of high-level reviews indicates the Home Minister’s close watch over policing in Delhi.
Officials present at the meeting described it as a thorough stock-taking exercise, looking at operational readiness, inter-agency coordination and the various issues emerging. Delhi has been under constant pressure in recent months over protests, traffic, street crime and narcotics. The sheer population density, the high-profile events, and the fact that it is the seat of the Union government mean the MHA will always be on high alert.
At the October meeting, the emphasis was on avoiding a situation where a demonstration could spiral out of control into a general law and order issue, and on the importance of real-time intelligence sharing between the various police units. Women’s safety and organised crime were both on the agenda as issues which the public had been concerned about for some time. Traffic management was also on the agenda, particularly during peak hours and on the main arterial roads, where congestion has been a continuing problem.
Thursday’s extended session allowed senior officers to update on what had been done since the last review and to raise any new operational requirements. The Lt Governor’s (Sandhu) presence clearly signalled the level of institutional coordination between the MHA, the Delhi administration, and police leadership. In the context of Delhi’s dual Government, these joint reviews are a useful mechanism to ensure that the various layers of Government are on the same page.
The Delhi Police have been in the firing line over their performance in both day-to-day crime and the handling of major public events. They are expected to maintain law and order during the large-scale political, cultural and religious events that regularly take place in the Capital. The Shah’s repeated visits clearly indicate that the Centre is keeping a close eye on this and expects tangible improvements in several areas of the law-and-order situation, as well as the safety and security of the denizens.
The discussions covered both the short term and longer term (capacity building) for the police. The four-hour session included a detailed examination of crime data, deployment, and how the police work together, Delhi-placed sources told The Pioneer.
This comes against the backdrop of Delhi’s difficult security situation. Local police are up against it, and national security issues are always a factor. “Delhi has regular high-profile visitors, large public events, and occasional protests. The MHA regularly conducts on-the-ground reviews. Thursday’s meeting is part of that ongoing process of the Union Home Minister meeting with Delhi police,” the sources added.