Hybrid model blends best practices from Odisha and Punjab. Nov 1 eyed for formal launch. 

 

THE Police Headquarters (PHQ) in Nava Raipur has moved into advanced stages of drafting Chhattisgarh’s first-ever Police Commissionerate system for Raipur, with a seven-member task force now finalising pro- posals for a hybrid model based on comparative study of over two dozen Commissionerates across India. This follows Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai’s momentous Independence Day declaration, aiming to overhaul urban policing and replace lega- cy dual-control structures with a unified executive command. The PHQ-appointed task force has extensively studied six states-Odisha (Bhubaneswar and Cuttack), Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal and Indore), Uttar Pradesh (Agra, Ghaziabad, Varanasi, Prayagraj, and Noida), Telangana (Warangal and Karimnagar), Punjab (Ludhiana and Ambala)-and the existing Commissionerate frameworks of all four metro cities and key tier-2 hubs. Based on its comparative analysis, the panel has recom- mended a hybrid model drawing on the strengths of Odisha and Punjab Commissionerates, citing their recent, adaptable, and legally streamlined structures. Sources familiar with the internal deliberations told The Hitavada that the Raipur Commissionerate will blend best practices from both states while tailoring the system to meet local law enforcement needs, urban dynamics, and future scalability. Legal frame- works are being prepared through two pathways-one by ordinance and another through a cabinet notification.

 

In either case, the rollout is expected to pave the way for enactment of a dedicated Metropolitan Police or Urban Police Act in the near future. The panel has also taken into account the 2005 Draft Model Police Act, which was framed by a Union Home Ministry-appointed committee and recommended Commissionerate systems in cities with populations exceeding 10 lakh. With Raipur’s urban and floating population now above 20 lakh, the cap- ital meets all qualifying parameters for the upgraded sys- tem. According to high-ranking officers in PHQ, the pro- posed structure will include one Commissioner of Police, one Additional Commissioner, and nearly a dozen Deputy Commissioners covering east, west, north, south zones, as well as traffic, rural, crime, cyber, and headquarters wings.

 

“The idea is to eliminate command bottlenecks and insti- tute a single, agile executive system for fast-response polic- ing,” a senior officer involved with the framework told The Hitavada. Sources confirmed to The Hitavada that the com- mittee is chaired by Additional Director General of Police (Planning & Provisioning) Pradeep Gupta and includes Inspector General of Police (Narcotics) Ajay Yadav, Inspector General of Police (Raipur Range) Amresh Mishra, Inspector General of Police (Crime Investigation Department-CID) Dhruv Gupta, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Telecom) Abhishek Meena, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems-CCTNS) Santosh Singh, and Superintendent of Police (Special Intelligence Branch-SIB) Prabhat Kumar. Legal support is being provided by Mukula Sharma, Joint Director of Prosecution, Directorate of Public Prosecution, who has been appointed as a special invitee. If the legal and admin- istrative clearances proceed as expected, officials confirm that the Police Commissionerate system could be formal- ly launched on November 1, aligning with the state’s Foundation Day and Silver Jubilee celebrations.

 

“All depends on the state leadership as to how it will decide which way it wants to go ahead with the two proposals to be submit- ted by the task force committee for final green signal by the Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai-the brainchild behind accomplishing the unaccomplished so far,” the officer con- cluded.