Bangalore houses roughly around one crore citizens. As the city grows, crime rate too goes up. To facilitate smooth flow of grievance redressal mechanism and complaint follow ups, Police Department has brought certain services under Sakala scheme, to aid the citizens in getting their work done in time. However, how many people are aware of this?

The Police Computer Wing (PCW) of the Karnataka State Police had introduced 21 services under the Sakala scheme, in April 2012. Four months ago, the PCW also launched the mobile SMS Gateway service. But its reach has been limited.

Speaking to Citizen Matters, ADGP, PCW, Praveen Sood, said that everyday around 8,000 SMSs are triggered by the Department. But this figure is less for a state like Karnataka, where everyone has a mobile phone and most people are on the internet. People in Bangalore have access to everything, but are still unaware of the scheme.

No knowledge, or not revealing numbers to police?

D Narayan K, a resident near Siddaiah Road, who wanted to apply for a passport at the age of 60, said that he was unaware of any such service by the Police. “I am aware of Sakala, that was introduced by the BJP to ensure government departments do their work within a stipulated time frame. But the Police providing SMS services, I do not know. They should publicise it, for people to know and remember.”

However, Sood thinks that the reason for low figures is because people are reluctant to give their mobile numbers. He assures that the numbers will not be disclosed to anybody. Sharing their mobile numbers will speed up the process and save time and money. Citizens should make full use of this service.

Sood says that SMS Gateway service was introduced because all citizens are not connected to the internet. Here the applicant should give his mobile number while submitting the application form. He will get an SMS from PCW, with the Guarantee of Services to Citizens (GSC) number and giving the status of his application – accepted, processing or approved.

How does the service work?

Earlier, the pain point for citizens was that applicants had to collect different forms for different services from different departments, within the Police Department. PCW re-engineered the process to ensure provision of a single form for all services. This form is uploaded on the website, hence saves the ime required for visiting Police Commissioner’s office.

Earlier challans and deposit slips were given by the department and applicants had to make their payments to banks or state treasury. Now under Sakala, all payments are made at Bangalore One or Karnataka One Centres. This ensures there is no direct contact with any Police official and thus no exchange of money (bribe) too. The applicant comes to Police Commissioner’s office only twice – to submit the application and to receive the required certificate/licence after it is processed.

Once the application is submitted, the Police IT wing generates an immediate acknowledgement. The day-1 starts from here. A 15-digit GSC number is given to the applicant. Once the job is done, the file reaches the Police Commissioner’s office. Applicants can then check their GSC number status on the website too.

How does SMS Gateway work?

Here, once the applicant gives his mobile number, an automatic SMS will be generated as an acknowledgment. Applicants can know the status of their request either on the internet or get status update through SMS. Once the file is ready at the Commissioner’s office, they will get a final SMS alert that the process is completed and approved.

‘A useful service’

M Yesudas, who had applied for Police verification certificate for a job in a public sector company, appreciates the service. “I had applied for my job verification last month. I did not get any SMS or anything from anybody. But my work was done within 10 days. If this is because of Sakala, then it is a good service. I will tell people in my circle to apply through this. Here there is no bribe and the work is done quickly without any hassle.’’