Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

The Maharashtra government has drawn up a comprehensive plan to bring all major cities and towns across the state under CCTV surveillance by 2016-17.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis directed the home department Tuesday to take up the CCTV project on priority, starting with major cities such as Mumbai, Nagpur, Nashik and Aurangabad. “Pune is among the first cities to be fully covered by CCTV. Mumbai has made partial progress and would shortly catch up. It is expected to be completed in all major cities and towns including Nashik, Nagpur and Aurangabad by 2016-17,” Fadnavis told The Indian Express.

Recognising that deploying manpower alone for policing was not a permanent solution, the government is planning to deploy advanced technology to scale up surveillance.

The state has been facing multiple challenges on the crime and security front. The home department has often invited flak from the Congress-NCP, and Shiv Sena, an alliance partner. The killing of social activist Narendra Dhabolkar (during the Congress-NCP regime) and murder of senior communist leader Govind Pansare (BJP-Sena regime) were seen as blots on the state government. While police have made some headway in the Pansare case, the perpetrators in the Dhabolkar case are still at large.

Acknowledging that it was a shame and remains a challenge, Fadnavis said, “The foremost task in the home department related to streamlining of basics. When I took charge, and was told that conviction rate was between 8 and 9 per cent, it came as a shock.

You cannot have a system where there is no punishment after committing a crime. Conviction rate has gone up from 9 to 41 per cent in just one year.”

Realising that a large state like Maharashtra cannot depend on other states or countries for forensic tests, the government has set up laboratories and brought on board trained manpower to work in them. The home department is working in coordination with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to safeguard the state’s 720-km coastal stretch, and to effectively tackle Naxals in districts across Maharashtra-Andhra Pradesh border.

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