BHUBANESWAR: Director General of Police (DGP) KB Singh on Thursday directed SPs and DCPs to activate Ama Police units for protection of senior citizens in urban areas of the State. Singh has instructed that all senior citizens must be registered and covered by Ama Police units of local police at the earliest. A spurt in crime against the elderlies has prompted the State Police to seek improved protection for the ageing people. According to National Crime Records Bureau, 423 cases of crime were registered in the State during 2015. As many as 19 cases of murder and 18 cases of attempt to murder were reported last year. In his order, the DGP asked the SPs and DCPs to identify Ama Police Samitis which have been constituted under urban police stations and go in for registration of senior citizens for which a prescribed form is available. Each registered senior citizen must be allotted a registration number for future interaction.
The District Police has also been directed to prepare a list of NGOs which work for senior citizens. The senior citizens security cells at police stations must utilise services of NGOs to reach out to the registered elderlies. To instil a sense of security among the elderly population, Singh said officers of senior citizens’ cell will visit the registered people every week to take stock of physical security as well as status of domestic helps. The verification process will be documented in a prescribed form which is issued by the State Police Headquarters.
All these activities would be taken up under the Ama Police scheme which was launched in 2013 as a community policing feature. Under the scheme, each police station has been been divided into Ama Police beats, each manned by an assistant sub-inspector. Similarly, Ama Police Samitis, comprising prominent residents of a police station, have been constituted.
According to the State Police database, 504 police stations have beencovered by Ama Police Samitis. The State Police had sanctioned close to `43 lakh for implementation of the project during 2015-16.