Sheila snipes at Delhi Police, again

In a renewed attack on the Delhi Police, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has sought the Prime Minister’s intervention for better policing and security in the national capital.

In her letter to the PM, Dikshit complained that the city police have not been able to deliver its promise to improve women’s safety in Delhi in the aftermath of the gang-rape of a 23-year-old on December 16.

The “situation remained unchanged as no visible improvement in policing has been witnessed in the last two months though the police had assured enhanced security for women following the incident that sparked massive public outrage,” Dikshit wrote in the letter.

Dikshit urged Manmohan Singh to look into the issue seriously and take appropriate steps.

It is learnt that Dikshit also wrote about the functioning of the Security Commission which frames guidelines on maintaining law and order. She has suggested that the commission’s recommendations be considered seriously, sources said.

Last month, the Union Home Ministry changed the composition of the Security Commission to make the Delhi Chief Minister a part of the panel that was set up in 2012 on the recommendations of the Justice K T Thomas committee on police reforms.

Dikshit is also learnt to have written a similar letter to Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, asking him to take effective steps to improve policing “so that women feel secure”.

In the letter, she referred to the massive public anger in the wake of the gang-rape and said nothing has changed even after demonstrations and protests swept the heart of the capital.