The North News
Chandigarh, December 31
The Punjab Police has announced a sweeping, technology-driven overhaul aimed at making policing faster, more professional and more responsive, under a new roadmap titled Vision 2026. Speaking in Chandigarh on Wednesday, Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said the reforms reflect the commitment of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann to modernise law enforcement across the state.
A central plank of the plan is a major upgrade of the Dial 112 Emergency Response Support System. A dedicated central control room will be built in Mohali at a cost of ₹52 crore, alongside the addition of new emergency vehicles worth ₹50 crore. District control rooms are also being modernised with an investment of ₹25 crore.
“Our aim is to cut average response time from 12–13 minutes to 7–8 minutes,” Mr Yadav said, adding that better coordination and real-time monitoring would be key to achieving this target.
On border security, the DGP said more than 2,300 CCTV cameras would be installed at 585 locations along the international border as part of a second line of defence. The anti-drone system fleet will also be expanded in phases, supported by specialised drone response teams and greater involvement of village defence committees.
Yadav said the state government has spent over ₹800 crore on police modernisation in the past three years, including new vehicles for senior officers and police stations. A further ₹426 crore has been approved for new police buildings, cyber crime headquarters and upgraded anti-narcotics task force facilities.
He added that new criminal laws have enabled the notification of a witness protection scheme, aimed at improving conviction rates, while police stations will see faster network connectivity and upgraded digital systems for criminal data and analysis.
Dedicated traffic and road safety police stations are also planned in cities, to be linked with integrated command and control centres for real-time traffic management and emergency response.
