PM asks police to earn people's confidence, trust

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Sunday asked police to achieve people's confidence through humanitarian works as she inaugurated the "Service Desk" at each police station and police housing scheme for homeless people.

"Bangladesh police will be people's servant and will acquire their trust and confidence. People will have to be rendered services in such a way that they always have confidence in getting justice whenever they go to police," she said.

The premier said this while virtually opening the two humanitarian initiatives of police from her official Ganabhaban residence here marking the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The programme was held at Dhaka Metropolitan Police Lines, Rajarbagh, Dhaka, while all the police stations, police ranges and police lines were connected to it.

Inaugurating the "Service Desk" at all 659 police stations across the country for women, children, elderly and disabled people and handing over 400 houses built by police for homeless, she thanked the law enforcement agency for the humanitarian initiatives.

"Today is a special day as the "Service Desk" at each police station was opened across the country for women, children, elderly and differently-able people and houses built by the police were provided to homeless families," she said.

The premier asked the police personnel to work with honesty, urging them to always stand beside the people and work for their welfare and reach the services at their doorsteps as her government is working to do it.

"You have stood beside the people and always stay beside them and work for their welfare," she said.

The prime minister also asked the police force to work for ensuring people's rights who are lagging behind and being deprived of getting services and to stand beside them as the government wants to make overall development of the society.

She said her government is working for making the police force as a specialised one and giving every possible advantage so the services of police would reach the people's doorsteps.

Referring to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's remark that police should be pro-people, the premier said the two humanitarian initiatives are police's pro-people work.

Sheikh Hasina also exchanged views with some service receivers from the service desk, women police personnel who are providing the service and beneficiary people who got the police houses, connected remotely from different parts of the country including Chattogram, Peerganj of Rangpur and Khulna.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan and Senior Secretary of Public Security Division at Home Ministry Md. Akhter Hossain spoke on the occasion while Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr Benazir Ahmed gave the welcome address.

An audio-visual documentary on two humanitarian initiatives of Bangladesh Police was screened at the function. For opening the "Service Desk", a separate room has been arranged at each of the police station.

A specially trained woman sub-inspector will lead the desk with other skilled female officers. The desks are also entrusted with informing visitors about other government services and providing legal aid to victims who are financially insolvent.

Police is set to build one house in 520 police stations each across the country for the homeless people. In the first phase, the police have distributed 400 houses. The houses which were built with standard modern construction materials are earthquake and hot resistance.

Mentioning that her government has always attached priority on training, Sheikh Hasina said they would also take arrangement to train the police personnel working at the service desk at home and abroad. The police members who will impart training from abroad will train others, she opined.

The prime minister said the people who are taking services from the service desk, they can also get legal aid services free of cost as the government has formed a committee and allocated required fund for this by enacting necessary law.

She spelled out her government's various measures for overall development of the police force, saying, "We want to build police as a well-trained force which will stand by the people and work for the welfare of people."

The world's longest serving head of the government said they made police force digitally equipped alongside transforming Bangladesh into a digital country with introducing internet at every union and launching Bangabandhu Satellite-1 to orbit.

Now, the scope of police have increased to serve people of hard-to-reach areas as the communication system is much well than before, she said. The prime minister said, "The Father of the Nation have given us independence, and now my work is to serve the people being imbued with the spirit of the Liberation War."

She said her government is working to bring every homeless and landless under the housing scheme following the footsteps of the Father of the Nation. The prime minister said the housing schemes have been taken as part of her government initiatives to do development from the grassroots.

"We're working to ensure reaching the benefits of development to the grassroots instead of city or capital centric development," she said. Sheikh Hasina said it's a great task to provide houses by Bangladesh Police to homeless people.

The prime minister highly praised the police personnel for their humanitarian services that included reaching foods to the doorsteps receiving call from 333 during the Covid-19 pandemic and giving emergency services receiving phone from 999.

She said, "Rendering such humanitarian services, the today's police have achieved trust and confidence of the people". The prime minister greeted in advance all the police personnel on upcoming Bangla Noboborsho and Eid-ul-Fitr.