VIJAYAWADA, OCT 21 :Showing praises on police forces, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has announced an allocation of Rs 20 crore every year for the welfare of the police personnel.

The Police Commemoration Day programme was held in the IGM stadium here on Monday. He paid rich tributes to those police personnel who sacrificed their lives, the Chief Minister recalled that the Indian forces were ambushed by the Chinese forces in Ladakh on the Sino-Indian border on October 21, 1959 but the Indian forces bravely fought the battle despite knowing well that they would lose their lives.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that police is the only force that strives hard for 24 hours a day without taking any rest for the safety of the people. “Andhra Pradesh police is a brand and it has the history of suppressing the factionalism, rowdyism and Naxalism in the State,” Mr Chandrababu Naidu said.

Promising to further strengthen the police system, the Chief Minister said that Rs 100 crore has been released for the department in the past four months. The Chief Minister announced that the 6100 constable posts that are lying vacant would be filled soon, adding that the police setup will also be provided with all kinds of technical facilities.

The Chief Minister felt that the police wing plays a very crucial role in the safety and security of society and their services are invaluable. Pointing out that various reforms have been introduced in the police system after 2014, the Chief Minister said that vehicles along with other necessary infrastructure have been provided as per their requirement.

“Ever since I took charge as the Chief Minister I have focused mainly on the police setup and it is the basic responsibility of the Government to provide the necessary equipment to the police. Now the modern technology will be provided to the police and the equipment too will be updated,” he added.

“Pending bills worth over Rs 100 crore have been cleared in the past few months besides other bills of Rs 97 crore, including the Central share of Rs 61 crore too are cleared recently,” the Chief minister said.

The Chief Minister admitted that the police wing is facing several challenges now as the cyber crime rate is going up alarmingly and felt the need to update the technology to check this unhealthy trend.

Chief Secretary Neerab Kumar Prasad, Director General of Police Dwaraka Tirumala Rao, Inspector General of Police (Intelligence), Ch Srikanth and a host of senior police officers were among those who were present.