Private CCTVs should be made part of VISHWAS project: Amit Shah

“It should not be limited to 7,000 cameras. This command and control room should connect to all cameras at railway stations, private societies, ports and all pilgrimage spots. Even if they are private, it should be connected. It is only then, this circle of security that is being proposed to be created by the state government will transform into a Sudarshan Chakra,” he said, adding the control room, through these networks of cameras, should be able to remain present at spots where incidents occur.

“This can happen through better connectivity and increasing storage capacity (of recordings),” he added.

Talking about the law and order situation that existed in Gujarat before 1995, Shah said, “There is only one city in the country—Ahmedabad— where of the 365 days in a year, clearing didn’t happen for 212 days. This is part of the records of the RBI. If a family member has gone to the walled city area, others in the family would be worried until the person returned. Such was the insecurity that prevailed; communal riots and attacks on Rath Yatra.”

“Today nobody has the courage to engage in a communal riot. Infiltration has completely stopped (across the border into Kutch),” he added. “There are a number of examples where anti-national elements have left the state. But changing the state didn’t help. Narendrabhai who was the chief minister became the Prime Minister,” Shah added without naming any one.

“Any informed journalist could write a book on the journey of Gujarat Police tracing the law and order situation in the 1980s to 2022. The changes have been so vast that perhaps there is hardly any other state where the state police has made so many reforms in functioning, decision-making, recruitment, modernisation and welfare of the police,” he said.

The e-FIR launched by Shah Saturday will be one of the 16 services provided through citizens first portal of Gujarat Police. Under the Rs 75 crore project, 10,000 body-worn cameras will be spread out across 772 police stations and will be used for regulating traffic and law and order.

Later while addressing an event at Mansa which is part of Gandhinagar Loksabha constituency represented by Amit Shah, the home minister announced a number of development projects including those for roads, solid waste disposal and water supply. He also inaugurated a kitchen for Akshaya Patra that will feed 25000 children in Mansa taluka.