Asserting that her state police force was on duty round the clock and was hard on complaints of crime, especially against women, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today contended that the state was most safe for women in the country.
Replying to DMDK whip V C Chandra Kumar during a debate on the grant for police department, Jayalalithaa said crimes against women were gradually decreasing in the state from 2011, when she took over as the Chief Minister.
While there were 165 dowry deaths reported in 2010, it reduced to 118 in 2013, marking a decline of 28.48 per cent, sexual assaults have also decreased, she said. In 2010, the cases of sexual assaults were 638 and in 2013, it was 313, making a 51 per cent decrease.
Observing that more women came forward during her regime to file complaints, Jayalalithaa said that while the complaints registered on Dowry Prohibition Act was 199, the same increased to 195 in 2011 and 277 in 2012 and 305 last year.
When pointed out by Kumar that Tamil Nadu witnessed 12,232 protests in 2012, according to an annual report released by Bureau of Police Research and Development, which also constituted 25 per cent of the total protests held across the country, Jayalalithaa said "it is only because protests are allowed to be held in the democratic way, a large number of protests have happened."
"States like West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh do not allow protests easily. In 2012, only 781 and 1,901 protests were allowed to be held by Kerala and West Bengal respectively," she said.
Jayalalithaa further tore into the DMDK for having partymen who have many criminal and other cases against them and contended that Kumar "did not have the moral standing to talk on law and order" in the Assembly as he was one of the persons who attacked his party colleagues in the House.
To a suggestion that police personnel might be given work for eight hours only, she said, police service was not a job with specific work timings.
Observing that government was acting to fill up vacancies, she said Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board has been ordered to recruit a total of 13,078 Grade II constables for Armed Reserve and 180 personnel for Tamil Nadu Special Police, besides 1,365 other postings.
