PHOTO: FILE
To be launched in Rawalpindi as a pilot project, it features a booth that looks like an automated teller machine (ATM) with a screen and a keyboard.
The smart police station has been named the ‘self-service police kiosk’, officials told The Express Tribune. Citizens will be able to operate the automated police station on their own without having to acquire help from any police officer, they said, adding that it will help them avoid the traditional police station culture and provide police services with social distancing.
The booth will allow people to avail as many as 14 facilities, including reporting crimes, character certificate, copy of FIRs, weapons licence form, vehicle and motorcycle registration verification and other facilities.
Any citizen's application will be made part of the record through an automated scanner installed in the machine. A token number will be issued to the applicant upon completion of the application.
The automated police kiosk will be connected to the central server and will be operational 24 hours a day. It is also equipped with a biometric system, a camera, a touchscreen, a scanner, keyboard, mouse and printer, officials said.
They further explained that any application process will start with the biometric verification of the applicant. When a citizen starts the process, the camera installed in the machine will take a picture of the applicant for the record.
They hoped that the machine would not only help improve the quality of service delivery but also help officers and people to perform legal affairs at a distance from each other.
Police officials said that the permission for the installation of the self-service police kiosk will be given by IG Punjab.
Once successful, the pilot project will be expanded to set them up outside crowded markets, major highways and district police headquarters.
Drive against profiteering
Under a campaign launched by Rawalpindi district administration against profiteering and hoarding, 850 raids were conducted in the district during last 24 hours and fines were imposed against 145 violators amounting to Rs245,000 while two FIRs were also registered.
District administration constituted teams to check profiteering, hoarding and rate lists of daily use items and on the recommendations of the teams, two cases were registered. A spokesman to the administration said 19,563 raids were conducted against profiteering and hoarding during May while the violators were imposed fines amounting to over Rs5.9 million.
Meanwhile the government continued to assist destitute affected by the lockdown.
More than Rs1.08 billion in aid to over 90,000 deserving families have been distributed under PM’s Ehsaas Kifalat Programme in the district.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 16th, 2020.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ