MUMBAI, NOV 6: The Democratic Front Government in the State has decided to revive the police peace committee scrapped by the erstwhile Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party Government, which had replaced it with the Mohalla Ekta Committee.Minister of State for Home (City) Kripashankar Singh told The Indian Express that it was decided to revive the police peace committee since the mohalla committee suffered a lot of political interference. ``The police peace committee, which will be revived along with the zonal committee, will comprise representatives of non-governmental organisations, social workers, senior citizens and businessmen'', Singh said. Each of the 73 police stations will have a committee, he added.Singh said the mohalla committee was in fact a halla (noise) committee and suffered political interference, which hindered its working. Such committees, should be involved in maintaining peace and harmony in the city.The work of mohalla committee will be reviewed and if the department finds itsworking unsatisfactory, will scrap it, he said. A senior government official said the committee will work towards maintaining peace during festivals.A Mantralaya official said the senior police inspector of the concerned police station will conduct meetings of the revived peace committee once a week.The Bombay Aman committee, started by the Congress government headed by Sudhakarrao Naik, was scrapped by the Sena-BJP Government after the 1992-93 riots and replaced with the Mohalla Ekta Committee, which was started on similar lines.The Mohalla Ekta Committee comprised local leaders of various communities, social workers and prominent citizens. The committee would meet and discuss problems of the area and find solutions. A senior police officer said the mohalla committee, initiated by former police commissioner R D Tyagi, was a huge success in the initial stages but later flopped miserably due to alleged political interference.
