Govt. will extend Police Gruha project till 2030: Home Minister Parameshwara

The State government’s Police Gruha project of building houses to each of the 1.10 lakh police personnel of the State will continue till 2030, said Home Minister G. Parameshwara in Mangaluru on Tuesday.

Mr. Parameshwara was speaking at a programme organised to inaugurate the newly constructed 12 residential flats for police personnel of Moodbidri.

He also laid foundation stones for 18 flats in Mangaluru and 12 flats each in Mulky and Uppinangady respectively.

The Police Gruha project was started in 2015, with the objective of providing a decent accomodation for the police personnel. The construction cost per unit, which stood at ₹18 lakh when the project was launched, has now touched ₹33 lakh. So far the government has covered only 40% of the beneficiaries.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has agreed to have houses build for the remaining 60%, Mr. Parameshwara said.

The government acted on the recommendations of the Auradkar Committee and hiked salary of police personnel to bring it on par with salaries of other government employees. The long-pending demand of issuing personnel with navy blue peak cap was accepted and implemented.

Tough action

Commending the Mangaluru city and Dakshina Kannada district police units for effectively dealing with drug peddlers and consumers, the Minister said, “It is difficult to make a region free of narcotic drugs. The police have been instructed to deal firmly with drug peddlers and consumers.”

Mr. Parameshwara said despite measures to restrict the coverage of mobile jammers installed at the Mangaluru District prison, people in the vicinity still continue to face problem from jammers. He has visited the place, near Konaje, where new prison was being constructed.

The Home Minister is hopeful of getting ₹50 crore more in the forthcoming State Budget, which will help in constructing compound wall for the new prison.

He said that he has sought grant for replacing old boats of the Coastal Security police. New buildings will be sanctioned for the Mangaluru City police stations presently housed in old buildings and on rented premises.

MLA for Mangaluru City South D. Vedavyas Kamanth urged State government to take measures to increase the number of surveillance cameras in Mangaluru city.