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In a fresh attack on the Delhi police, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has sought the prime minister's intervention to ensure better policing in Delhi, complaining that the force has failed to deliver on its promise to improve women's safety after the December 16 gangrape incident.
In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Dikshit said that the situation remained unchanged as no visible improvement in policing has been witnessed in the city in the last two months though police had assured enhanced security for women following the incident that sparked massive public outrage.
The chief minister requested the prime minister to look into the issue seriously and take appropriate steps. Sources said that in the letter dated February 13, Dikshit has also mentioned about functioning of the security commission which frames guidelines on maintaining law and order and suggested that its recommendations should be considered seriously.
Dikshit had severely criticised police in the wake of the gangrape incident and even demanded resignation of Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar. She had also regretted not having any control over functioning of the police which functions under direct control of Home Ministry.
The Union Home ministry last month had made changes in composition of the commission making the Delhi chief minister part of the panel which was set up in 2010 on the recommendation of the Justice K T Thomas committee on police reform.
The sources said Dikshit has written a similar letter to Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde asking him to take effective steps for improvement in policing in the city so that women feel secure.
In the letter, she has referred to massive public anger in the wake of the brutal gangrape of a 23-year-old paramedical student two months back and said ‘nothing has changed even after the widespread public anger against the police’.
On Tuesday, Kumar had met Dikshit at her residence and apprised her about the steps being taken by the force to improve safety of women. Earlier this month, Dikshit had slammed police after a brutal assault on a young girl in Lajpat Nagar area, saying women do not feel safe here and ‘fears have risen’ following the incident.
"Women don't feel safe in Delhi. There is no feeling of security," she had said. In a letter to Shinde last month, the Delhi government had accused the city police of ‘completely deviating’ from its core duties and ‘trivialising’ the issue of safety of women.
The government had said that instead of focusing on improving law and order in the city, the police was much more interested in issues unauthorised constructions and granting of various licenses.