Srinagar, Jan 14: Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police S P Vaid on Sunday said that social media outreach had helped the force counter the propaganda of subversive elements and improve the security situation in the state.
“Social media was misused to a large extent in 2016 to mislead the public and we managed to counter it to a large extent. Our effort to bring into a positive narrative helped in improving the situation to a large extent,” Vaid said, addressing passing–out-cum-attestation parade of 911 recruits at the Subsidiary Training Centre in Talwara here.
He said the police department set up media cells in all district headquarters, opened 26 Facebook pages at district police level, 189 Facebook pages at police station level, 31 Twitter handles, five Facebook pages at police range level and two Facebook pages at the zonal level.
This was part of the larger effort to restore peace and normalcy in the state, Vaid said.
He asked the recruits to give their best while serving the people.
He listed various welfare measures taken by the government and the department for the policemen and said, “We are abreast of your problems and are working to mitigate and ensure better living and work atmosphere for policemen.” He said the procurement of vehicles and safety gadgets has been made for the safety of the policemen who are performing their duties on roads.
He asked the policemen to treat civilian complainants with warmth and the miscreants firmly.
Highlighting the fight against drug abuse, he said 34 drug peddlers and criminals have been booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA), while a number of youth engagement programmes have been organised for channelising the energies of the young people.
On community policing, the DGP said that as many as 1,704 police community partnership group (PCPG) meetings were held last year to listen and help mitigate their problems.
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti inspected the parade and took salute at the march past.
Hailing from different parts of Kashmir division, 715 constables, who have been selected through a Transparent Recruitment Process (TRP), passed out after the completion of their basic training which started in November 2016.
Principal of the Subsidiary Training Centre, Anil Kumar Katoch, gave a brief resume of the trainings imparted to the recruits including special classes on human rights and crime against women.
Constable Altaf Hussain Malik was adjudged all-round best trainee and was granted out of turn promotion, decorated with selection grade constable rank on the spot by the chief minister and the DGP.
Constable Tanveer Ahmad and Mairaj-U-Din were declared 2nd and 3rd all-round best and were awarded with commendation certificate Class I, along with cash reward of Rs 10,000 and Rs 7,500 respectively.