Hyderabad, March 27: Cuting across ideological lines, the TDP, MIM, CPM and BJP today lashed out at the State Government for its “failure’’ to maintain law and order and to check the crime rate in Andhra Pradesh.
The people were living in fear across the State, particularly in the urban areas, they remarked.
Raising the issue during Question Hour in the State Assembly today, senior TDP member M Narsimhulu demanded that the Government scrap the advisory committees for law and order and public safety.
Citing the rise in kidnapping cases, MIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi called for increase in number of personnel in the police department to tackle the situation.
G Kishan Reddy (BJP) and J Ranga Reddy (CPM) held the government responsible for the rise in white collar crimes, rapes and other atrocities against women.
In her reply, Home Minister P Sabitha Reddy informed the House that the Government had taken steps to appoint 35,831 police personnel in three phases to strengthen the department. After the Mumbai terror attack, the Government took steps to set up marine police stations in coastal areas, besides establishing OCTOPUS.
She admitted that there had been an increase in kidnapping and missing cases in the State. As against the sanctioned strength of about 1.3 lakh police personnel, the current number stood at 97,000. There were thus 33,000 vacancies. About 12,901 personnel had been recruited under the first phase, and the process was under way to recruit 16,323 more, she added.
BIOMETRIC SCANNERS
In response to a query tabled by Congress member P Shanker Rao, Sabitha Reddy said the police department was contemplating introducing biometric scanners in the State.
These scanners capture the fingerprints of suspects/persons as images as against the existing practice of rolling fingerprints in ink. Comparison of fingerprints in a biometric system takes few seconds as against few months.
Also, the “match’’ results are more accurate and the data base can be easily shared by lateral departments. The police department was still formulating the proposals to be sent to the Government, she added.
DEVELOPMENT OF TALLAPAKA
Endowments Minister G Venkat Reddy, in reply to a question tabled by A Amarnath Reddy (Congress), said that the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) had constructed a Kalyanamandapam and a prayer hall at Tallapaka, the birthplace of saint-composer Annamacharya. Besides, an “Annamacharya memorial spiritual centre’’ was being developed at an estimated cost of Rs 11.5 crore at Tallapaka road junction. It was proposed to build a Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple at a cost of Rs 1 crore and tenders had already been called for the same. A 108-feettall statue of Sriman Tallapaka Annamacharya at a cost of Rs 3 crore would come up and the vicinity greened.
Since 2007, Annamayya Jayanthi celebrations were being conducted by the TTD — at Tallapaka as well as in Tirupati on the lines of those of Tyagaraja Swamy, he said.
SCHOOL DROPOUTS
Former minister and TDP MLA P Ramulu, who himself had to drop out of school for a year in Class 6, urged the State Government to take steps ensuring that there were no dropouts, particularly in rural areas, and to see to it that every child went to school.
In response, Secondary Education Minister D Manikya Vara Prasad said the Government had taken various steps to check the dropout rate by introducing programmes like Badi Bata, bridge courses, etc. In reality, the number of dropouts had actually declined over the last 10 years, he claimed.
The minister, however admitted that across the State there were 29,425 children who had not even attended primary school.
To ensure that every child went to school, steps like maintenance of Census registers at school, enrolment drive through Badi Bata, establishment of ECE (Early Child Education) centres for the age-group 3-5 years, mainstreaming of “never enrolled’’ and “dropped-out’’ children through residential and non-residential bridge course centres, etc., were among the steps taken by the Government, he said. The drop-out figures for the primary, high school and Intermediate levels were 2.45 lakh, 4.7 lakh and 1.33 lakh respectively, the minister added.
–Agencies