Government Railway Police stations in Odisha lack infrastructure, amenities
BHUBANESWAR: Even as crime on tracks and railway stations has increased manifold over the years, the government railway police (GRP) stations in the State lack basic amenities to handle the law and order.
While a normal police station has a plinth area of 8,000 sqft in rural areas and 11,500 sqft in urban areas, a GRPS has a plinth area of 800 sqft. The infrastructure of Odisha Police has improved phenomenally in the last two decades, but the railway police stations, SRP office and other facilities have remained in the standard of the 70s.
The State has 15 GRPS and two superintendent offices. Most of the police stations are dysfunctional as the basic requirement of a police station like office space, custody area (hazat, storage area, reception, space for installation of computers under CCTNS programme, barracks and rest rooms) are not available.
Sources said the police personnel deployed at the GRPS also are not undergoing usual training like the regular police in the absence of a Reserve Office. The office of SRP Cuttack is in a dilapidated condition and the office of SRP Rourkela is functioning from staff quarters.
The GRP takes cognizance of all crimes which occur on the railway between the two distant signals and also of crimes which occur in the running trains. Crimes occurring on the railway line beyond the two distant signals is the responsibility of the district police.
As per the existing arrangement, the salary of GRP staff is shared by the Railways and the State government on a 50:50 ratio. But the infrastructure of the GRP located on railway land, is yet to be entirely provided by the railways.
"Since the railway police stations are handling both crime and law and order in railway areas, they should have infrastructure on par with the regular police. Each GRPS should have a plinth area of 9,000 sqft and the offices of the SRP should be of the same design as that of district superintendent of police," said a senior police official.
As the GRPS continue to languish, Odisha Police has urged the Railway authorities to prepare a plan for upgrading the infrastructure of railway police to the level of State police at the earliest. Addl DGP (Railways) Sudhanshu Sarangi said the GM of East Coast Railway (ECoR) and DRMs have been suggested to upgrade the infrastructure of GRPS in a phased manner.
"We have provided them with approved plans and designs of the police stations. The SRP office, police stations, reserve office, barracks and staff quarters of GRP should be upgraded to the level of the State police. The upgradation can be done in a period of three to five years," he added.