Karnataka to strengthen Anti-Terrorism Squad, says CM Bommai
Bengaluru (PTI): Cautioning that "destructive forces" have crept into all fields in society, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday said his government would strengthen the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), and increase the number of prisons in the state.
The state government proposes to undertake more reforms in the police department, he said, as he also highlighted the need for equipping police personnel with sophisticated weapons.
Bommai was speaking after paying tributes on Police Martyrs' Day here, during which he recalled Karnataka police's rich history and the services of the personnel who died on duty.
"The population is increasing in the society and both national and international destructive forces are trying to disturb peace in the society," the Chief Minister said.
Bommai also said the government proposes to undertake more reforms in the police department by having a police museum, strengthening ATS (Anti-Terrorism Squad), and increasing the number of jails, among others.
He said, laws are framed to check any crime after it takes place, but there is a need to think about possible crimes well in advance and enact legislation accordingly.
Police personnel needed sophisticated weapons, he further said, adding that "if senior police officers work efficiently, it will automatically make lower-rung officers to follow their bosses."
Noting that Karnataka is ahead in providing facilities to the police compared to other states, the Chief Minister said the recruitment rate is high with the appointment of 4,000-5,000 police personnel every year.
"The confidence of the police must rise and the appointment must take place without corruption, which is being followed by the incumbent government. Also, new technology and tackling cyber crime should be part of police training," he said.
Pointing out that the construction of police stations has increased in the last one year, Bommai said, in the next one year, all police stations in the state must have their own buildings.
Police inspectors and deputy superintendents of police require training for which a separate command would be created, he said.
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Teachers start relay hunger strike to protest job loss, police action
Kolkata (PTI): A section of teachers who lost their jobs following a Supreme Court judgment which held that the whole appointment process was tainted, on Thursday began a relay hunger strike outside the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) office in protest over the issue.
Joining the protesters, BJP MP Abhijit Gangopadhyay who is a former judge of the Calcutta High Court, blamed the state administration and its wings for their plight.
The teachers and other staff who lost their jobs said that they were also protesting police action against their compatriots at the district inspector (DI) of schools' office at Kasba in south Kolkata on Wednesday.
"We started a relay hunger strike agitation with one teacher at the beginning and will soon chalk out further programme to protest the issue," one of the protesters told reporters outside the SSC office at Salt Lake here.
The agitating teachers have been holding a sit-in outside the SSC office building 'Acharya Sadan' since Wednesday night to protest the loss of jobs and police action against their compatriots.
The protesters alleged they were subjected to baton-charge and were even kicked and shoved around by law enforcement personnel during their agitation outside the DI office, situated beside Kasba police station of the Kolkata Police.
Noting that the police have lodged cases against the protesting teachers over Wednesday's protest at Kasba, Gangopadhyay said that this should not have been done.
"Cases have been lodged against innocent teachers who lost their jobs for the illegal acts of others," the BJP MP told reporters.
Maintaining that he had not gone to meet Education Minister Bratya Basu on Wednesday in protest against the police action, he said that the BJP leadership was with him in his decision.
Gangopadhyay said that he, along with former Rajya Sabha MP Rupa Ganguly, came to the protest site at Acharya Sadan to express solidarity with the teachers and other staff who lost their jobs.
Gangopadhyay, as a judge of the Calcutta High Court, had ordered a CBI investigation in November 2021 into alleged irregularities in the recruitment process.
He had also ordered the termination of more than 25,000 jobs of teaching and non-teaching staff in West Bengal government-run and -aided schools after finding irregularities in the process.
This order was upheld by a division bench of the high court and thereafter by the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court on April 3 upheld a 2024 Calcutta High Court judgment annulling the recruitment of 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff appointed through a recruitment drive by SSC in 2016, terming the entire selection process "vitiated and tainted".
Those who were rendered jobless claimed that the reason behind their plight was the inability of the SSC to differentiate between the candidates who secured employment through fraudulent means and those who did not.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee and some others, who held positions in the state's SSC when the irregularities in the recruitment process took place.
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