BHOPAL: Eyeing to ensure incident free and peaceful Ganesh Utsav and Eid-Milad-Un-Nabi, the police have introduced a QR Code-based quick response system in the communally sensitive Khandwa district of southwestern Madhya Pradesh.
Standees bearing QR codes and images of Lord Ganesh will be on prominent display at all the Ganesh Puja pandals across the communally sensitive Khandwa city.
"Anyone who is facing problems of any kind can just scan the QR codes from the standees at the respective Puja Pandal. Scanning of the QR code will generate a Google Form, which can be duly filled by citizens along with details of the issues being faced by them and their cell-phone number," Khandwa district police superintendent Manoj Rai told TNIE on Tuesday.
A dedicated team of the district police's cyber cell, which has been tasked with round-the-clock operation of the QR code-based security system during the entire ten-day festival, will connect each of the complaints (received through the QR code-based system) to the respective police station, followed by a quick police response to the concerned Puja Pandal.
There will be at least 126 big Ganesh Utsav pandals in the 3 to 5 km city limits of Khandwa, all of which will be covered by the new system, which will start functioning with the beginning of Ganesh Utsav on Wednesday and continue till Anant Chaturdashi-Ganesh Visarjan on September 6.
"We'll ensure that each of the grievances received from the Puja Pandals is addressed within a maximum of five minutes by our round-the-clock patrolling teams, particularly in three urban police station areas, including Kotwali, Padam Nagar and Moghat Road," Rai said.
Located in the southwestern part of Madhya Pradesh and neighboured by Maharashtra, the Khandwa district has long been counted among the most communally sensitive districts of the central Indian state.
Festivals like Ganesh Utsav and Durga Puja have often witnessed communal tension and clashes in the past. The district has also been a fertile base for the activities of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) outfit.
The district, which is part of the Indore Rural Police Range, is also among the top five districts in the state, that have reported maximum cases under the MP Freedom of Religion Act 2021, about religious conversion of girls and women through force, lure of marriage or money.
"The QR code-based system will have special focus on girl and women security as well as ensuring that the ten-days Ganesh Utsav as well as Eid-Milad-Un-Nabi (which falls on September 4-5) pass off peacefully," the SP-Khandwa added.