Govt to ink pact with Bavarian state

The Karnataka government will shortly sign an agreement with the Bavarian State in Germany for adopting better policing practices and technologies under the ‘Smart City is a Safe City’ concept.

Karnataka is the first State in the country where such an agreement is being signed.
On Saturday, representatives of the Hanns Seidel Stiftung (a Bavarian State sponsored foundation), met with Women and Child Development Minister Umashree, officials of the Home department, and various NGOs working in the sector of women and child protection.

Officials from both the departments will also be visiting Bavaria in April or May next year to get an insight into the policing system.The Foundation, which has 30 years of cooperation with the Bavarian police, made a presentation outlining the different modalities that can be adopted by Karnataka police.

While an estimated 42,000 police man the 13 million population in Bavaria, a meagre 16,000 police man a big City like Bengaluru, which has a population of around 10 million.
While the rate of conviction in crimes against women and children is around 2 per cent in Karnataka, it is 90 per cent in Bavaria. The Foundation said that this was possible only because the police and the prosecution team worked in close tandem.The Foundation suggested that Karnataka adopt the witness / victim protection scheme.

Additional Chief Secretary, Home, S K Pattanayak told Deccan Herald that there will also be an exchange of ideas with regard to cybercrime and traffic management.The State of Bavaria, has an agreement with Karnataka in areas of economic, academic and cultural cooperation since 2007. It is now looking at strengthening its bilateral relations, said Prof Ursula Mannle, Chairperson of the Foundation.