CM Devendra Fadnavis announces body cams for traffic cops

Aiming to provide better safety to traffic police personnel, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday announced that the state government would provide them with body cameras. He also announced that Mumbai CCTV network would go live from October 2.

Mr Fadnavis also announced several other measures for the welfare of the police force, including those related to housing, health and vocational training for their family members.

The move comes in the wake of police constable Vilas Shinde’s death. Shinde died after being hit on his head with a wooden plank by a biker in Mumbai. Shinde, attached to Mumbai Police, was battling for his life for more than a week at a hospital here before he passed away on August 23. While the 13th day rituals marking Shinde’s death was still underway, the Mumbai Police constable’s mother also passed away.

“We are working for better healthcare for our policemen. I appeal to all the other institutes to come forward and join hands with the government. The state government has also decided to provide police body cameras to our traffic cops to gather evidence and punish the guilty at earliest,” Mr Fadnavis said.

The chief minister was addressing a gathering here after launching a health check up and awareness programme by Asian Heart Institute in association with the Maharashtra government and Mumbai Police.

Mr Fadnavis also announced a ‘smart township’ in suburban Ghatkopar, which will provide quality living standards to 8,000 policemen. “We are also working for police housing in a way that they can own their own house,” he said and announced inclusion of families of retired police personnel below ASI-rank in the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Janarogya Yojna. “The state government will deposit the premium for police officers,” he added.

“The state government will undertake a skill training for the families of policemen to generate employment opportunities for them,” Mr Fadnavis added.