Buoyed by an increase of 100 per cent in funds for providing security at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in the Union Budget, the Delhi police are all keyed up to provide a foolproof security umbrella during the mega event.
Besides, the department has also decided to increase its current strength of personnel from 60,000 to 72,000 so as to have the best arrangements during the games."An amount of Rs 60 crore has been provided by the Central Government to the Delhi Police for Commonwealth Games security. In addition, the department has its own budget of Rs 22 crore," Delhi Police PRO Rajan Bhagat told UNI. Expressing satisfaction over the fund allocation, Mr Bhagat said there was no lack of funds as the security for the games was the top priority for the government. While in the previous Budget, the Delhi Government had allocated Rs 400 crore for the CWG, this time it has been raised to Rs 1000 crore, that is 150 per cent more than previous year. The event will be attended by more than a dozen country heads and senior representatives from 71 participating countries."For the modernisation purposes, that includes installation of new technology in the security system like CCTV cameras, better equipped e-challaning system through GPRS, to name a few, an amount of Rs 122 crore was provided last year by the government and the same amount has been given this year also," he added. The Delhi police are also in the process of recruiting more personnel. "The current strength is 60,000 and it has been decided to recruit 12,000 more so as to have the best arrangements during the games," Mr Bhagat said. "A three-tier recruitment procedure was in the process. The first batch of 5000 personnel has already been recruited and they include 600 Sub-Inspectors, more than 6000 constables and about 400 drivers," he added.Training of the second batch of 7000 is also underway. If necessary, 4,000 to 5,000 more personnel will be recruited later, but no decision has been taken so far, he added. "Help will be sought from other states as well as central security agencies, if required," he noted. Apart from the Games, the Delhi police are also taking care of proper security on other fronts. "Security at other levels during the games period will be ramped up higher than the normal grade. This will be done to avoid any kind of untoward incident," he added.He said the Delhi Police was seeking full cooperation and participation from the people in all these endeavours. Reportedly, the Delhi government has sought around 150 to 200 companies of central paramilitary forces, 3000 commandos, besides nearly 700 quick reaction teams and aerial surveillance, apart from the city police, to keep a strict vigil during the games.