Chennai: Announcing a women-friendly transfer policy in the police department, Chief Minister M K Stalin said policewomen rejoining duty after availing the one-year maternity leave would be hereafter posted for three years in the district where their parents or their in-laws lived.
The demand from policewomen for such child-friendly posting had been pending for a long time and it had now been acceded to in the year marking the golden jubilee of women in the police force, Stalin said, addressing a meeting organized by the police department for the handing over of awards and medals to police personnel at the Egmore Rajarathinam stadium on Friday.
For the first time, women were inducted into the force during the tenure of M Karunanidhi as Chief Minister and it was heartwarming to watch a woman officer leading a battalion in the march past in which he took the salute on Friday, he said.
It was Karunanidhi who also instituted the Anna Medal for distinguished service in the police department in 1969 and for the past 55 years the State had been presenting awards in recognition of the professional excellence of police personnel, he said.
Skill development training would be imparted to policewomen to efficiently deal with crimes like abduction of women and cybercrimes to enhance their efficiency in fighting crimes against women and children, he said, adding that he wanted the police department to strive towards making Tamil Nadu a crime-free State.
No one should commit a crime and if anyone did, the culprit should be immediately arrested, made to face the law and properly punished is a pledge that every police personnel should take, not just the high level officers in the department and the Chief Minister, he said.
If every police personnel swears to not allow any sort of crime happening in their jurisdiction, the crime rate would come to zero and to score that zero everyone in the department should have a cent per cent dedication and commitment to the work, he said.
Crimes should be prevented before they were committed in the State, which should be rid of drugs and sexual offences, he said, adding that though the Chennai Police was known for its efficiency even during the British rule, it was Karunanidhi who modernized the force in 1970, who had been acknowledged by former Inspector General of Police F V Arul.
Karunanidhi also set up the first Police Commission to look into the concerns of the personnel before any other State thought about it and then constituted the second and third commissions and the fifth commission with Justice (retired) C T Selvam as head was constituted by the present government, he said
He was thankful to the police department for the maintenance of law and order, which was one prime reason for the State attracting investments that had led to industrial growth, development of education, improvement in infrastructure and enabling the State to come on top of all human development indices.
The awards and medals presented on the occasion included the President’s Award, the Prime Minister’s medal and Chief Minister’s Medal that were given away to personnel from the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-corruption, Fire and Rescue Services, Prisons and correctional services, Home Guards and Forensic Science Departments.
