Maharashtra govt aims to build 1lakh houses for state police

By Realty Quarter Bureau

Fadnavis performed the bhoomipujan of the country’s first smart police station with integrated township-cum-commercial complex spread across 19,365 sqm area at Lakadganj 

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis aims at constructing 1lakh houses for personnel, which would include a substantial number of ownership units. This he said at bhoomipujan of the country’s first smart police station with integrated township –cum-commercial complex. The police station is at Lakadganj and estimated to cost 145crore.

He also lauded the efforts of east Nagpur BJP MLA Krishna Khopde for getting the project sanctioned, besides other leaders and police officers, including CP K Venkatesham and joint CP Shivaji Bodkhe. The top cops also got a pat on their backs by the CM for managing to replace and reduce manpower deployment for the winter assembly by 38% with the use of technology.

“Police personnel have been living on dilapidated premises, some of which are as old as 200 years. In the last 40 years, the living condition of police have deteriorated to such an extent that they have been compelled to live in slums, share congested rooms separated only by curtains and use community washrooms,” he said. “In the last three years, we have built 3,000 houses and another 7,000 units are nearing completion. The remaining 47,000 are in tendering process. Some of the units constructed for constables were actually preferred by our officers of DCP ranks when they saw it,” said Fadnavis.

The CM said the aim is to create integrated townships for the cops with gym and swimming pool facilities like the one at Lakadganj.

He said the ownership scheme for police housing, including 1,000 units in Nagpur, was conceptualized to ensure that the cops do not have to vacate their service quarters after retirement. “We are providing 2.5 FSI to the builders engaged in constructing police houses. A facility has been also created for the cops to get 200% bank loans of their basic pay. Every unit in-charge has been instructed to facilitate projects for police housing with ownership,” he said.

The CM laid emphasis on qualitative change in policing apart from welfare and housing. He lauded the extensive use of technology in policing, including the implementation of Crime and Criminal Tracking and Network system (CCTNS) through which digitization of records could be devised. He also extolled the one-stop integrated facilities for women in the form of ‘Bharosa cell’.