Bhopal (Madhya Pardesh): Nearly 30 % of First Response Vehicles (FRV) of Dial-100 are out of service; they are either parked at the police stations or landed at service garage affecting the police patrolling services in the state. And to add to this, the tender for Centralized Control Room Dial-100 has got stuck for the sixth time.
The first phase of the Dial-100 service was launched in the state in November 2015 with an aim to respond to the cry calls of the victims seeking police help. The phase ended in March 2020. In the state there are around 1,050 police stations and every one of them have at least one FRV. But as per sources, 30% of these emergency vehicles are now in unusable state and off the roads.
SP Dial-100 BM Shakya told Free Press the present agency Bharat Vikas Group (BVG) company had got the extension for six times since 2020 as no new tender has been called since then. The company is somehow managing its vehicles to respond to emergency calls, said Shakya. The company is arranging vehicles from other parties on contract basis, said Shakya, adding that the company pays the FRVs’ owner once it gets the amount from Dial-100.
DPR prepared for sixth time
For the sixth time, DPR has been prepared and sent to the state government for approval. In March 2023, for the fifth time the tender were issued, in which three companies participated. The present operator BVG also participated in the tender process. The Dial-100 authorities objected to this saying that the company was debarred in Chhattisgarh. The BVG company had then filed a petition in the High Court.
The High Court and Supreme Court gave a ruling in favour of Dial-100. Now for the sixth time the DPR has been prepared and sent to the state government for approval. After the lifting of the Lok Sabha election model code of conduct, the state government will take a decision on the tender.
New FRV will be hi-tech...
FRV vehicles will now be more hi-tech than before. In the new tender terms, the FRV will now have Bolero for rural areas and Innova for urban, in place of the Safari Storme. In the first phase of tender, 1200 high tech vehicles of FRV will come, which will increase to 2000 during the tender period.
These vehicles will be equipped with 180-degree dash boards and body-worn cameras will be installed. This will be done to protect transparency in police work and also to avoid allegations of corruption. The 180 degree camera can be seen both inside and outside the vehicle. Their specialty will be that they can be seen live in the Dial-100 control room. After the tender is approved by the government, it will take three to four months for the new vehicles to hit the road.
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