Chief Minister M.K. Stalin inaugurated All Women Police Station (AWPS) in Katpadi near Vellore and Thandrampet near Tiruvannamalai on Thursday through video conferencing. This has ended a decade-long wait to have at least one AWPS in every sub-division of the district police in these two districts. Currently, the district police in Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Ranipet and Tirupattur are divided into sub divisions with Tiruvannmalai having the highest number of subdivisions (7), with the rest having three sub-divisions each. Except Katpadi (Vellore) and Thandrampet (Tiruvannamalai) sub-divisions, rest of the sub-divisions in these four districts have one AWPS each. “Such an arrangement of having one AWPS in each sub division provides for easy accessibility for women complainants. It also helps to redress their grievances much faster,” S. Rajesh Kannan, SP (Vellore), told The Hindu.
As part of the modernisation of the police force in the State, including providing better work place for police personnel, the Tamil Nadu Police Housing Corporation (TNPHC), the nodal agency for construction work related to the police in the State, has built the new police stations for women in Katpadi and Thandrampet. The new facilities have six rooms, including lock ups, conference room, separate room for inspector and other police personnel. A highly guarded room to store arms and ammunition is also provided. For visitors including complainants, the new facility has a creche, counselling centres, visitors’ hall and rest rooms. Special ramps were also constructed for persons with disabilities, officials said. Collector P. Kumaravel Pandian (Vellore), Z. Annie Vijaya, DIG (Vellore), S. Rajesh Kannan, SP, Vellore MP D. Kathir Anand participated.
