 "Rakesh Asthana")
Outgoing Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana on Sunday said although he has retired, his desire to work for the force and the public remains intact, and asserted that he did not feel a "headache even for a minute" while performing his duty.
The 1984-batch Gujarat cadre IPS officer, who has in the last one year brought some notable changes in the Delhi Police, such as merging Police Control Room units with police stations and separating law and order from the investigation unit, said he believes his team "did well".
Sanjay Arora (57), a Tamil Nadu-cadre IPS officer who headed the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, a paramilitary force, replaces Asthana.
"Although I have retired today, I believe I can do a lot more for the Delhi Police, the people and the country... I still have that desire to work. But then, anyone who joins the force has to retire one day," Asthana said in his farewell speech.
He attributed his desire to continue work to the positive energy that he received from the Delhi Police and said there was never a minute where he felt a "headache" and wanted to quit the force.
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"I would like to say this first....whatever association I have had in this one year with the Delhi Police, it has been very enriching and satisfying, both professionally and personally. I worked hard, so I had this desire to serve. The desire still remains and it is a fact," Asthana said.
Appreciating his officers for controlling the Jahangirpuri violence that broke out in northwest Delhi earlier this year, Asthana recalled that he was in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur during the incident and said he was "proud" of his team for controlling the situation.
"I immediately called DCP Usha Rangnani and she confidently told me that the situation will be controlled. I then got a call from the Special Commissioner of Police (Dependra Pathak) and he told me that he's reaching in 10 minutes. He assured me that everything will be controlled in an hour and he did. I was anxiousbut I was proud," he said.
Asthana also took the opportunity to express his gratitude to Balaji Srivastava, who was then the Additional Commissioner of Police.
"He (Balaji) had only been the commissioner for a month when my order came. He was very composed and conducted himself well till the time he was here. I admire him because he accepted an outsider like me. He briefed me before leaving and thoughout my tenure he kept in touch and was helpfulI was skeptical for a moment because of my backgroundreplacing an AGMUT cadre officer, but I think we did well"
It was during Asthana's tenure that for the first time, eight police station across the Delhi Police districts were headed by women SHOs.
He also called for an open house sessions with the police personnel of each rank to listen to their greviances and address them.
To make women feel safer, he ordered creation of pink police booths across the 15 district units.
He also launched a social media centre to strengthen the force's online presence.
In the morning, Asthana took salute during the Farewell Ceremonial Parade at New Police Lines.
Later, at the Adarsh Auditorium in Delhi Police Headquarters situated on Jail Singh Marg, senior Delhi Police officers felicitated Asthana and thanked him for his service.
Asthana was appointed as the Delhi Police Commissioner on July 28 last year.
Arora, a 1988-batch IPS officer who was once part of the Tamil Nadu Police's Special Task Force which hunted down forest brigand Veerappan, will take charge on Monday. He is due for retirement in 2025.
According to an official order, the competent authority has approved his inter-cadre deputation.
Arora is the second successive non-AGMUT cadre IPS officer to head the Delhi Police and the third since the Delhi Police Act was passed in 1978 and a Commissionerate established.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
