Accelerate recruitment for effective implementation of three new laws: LG

Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG) Vinai Kumar Saxena has directed the Chief Secretary to constitute a committee to expedite recruitment for effective implementation of three new penal laws, which came into force on July 1.

Officials of the Raj Niwas gave details and Saxena reviewed the ongoing implementation of the three new penal codes in the capital on Monday. The LG expressed satisfaction over the status and pace of implementation and demanded that recruitments for various posts be expedited. In this regard, he asked the chief secretary to form a committee of all concerned departments to expedite the recruitment process for permanent staff by simplifying processes like finalisation of RRs, advertisement of posts etc. in one step. The departments involved in the recruitment issue include Services, Administrative Reforms, Finance and the user departments FSL, Public Prosecution and Prisons.

Apart from the Chief Secretary, the heads of all concerned departments namely Ministry of Home Affairs, GNCTD, Delhi Police, Forensic Science Laboratory, National Informatics Centre, Public Prosecution Department, GNCTD, Ministry of Health and Department of Finance and Administrative Reforms were present in the meeting.

Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) have been in force since July 1, replacing the colonial-era Indian Penal Code (IPC), Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and Indian Evidence Act. It was the fourth review meeting headed by the LG in this regard.

Various issues were discussed in the meeting including training of nodal officers appointed by the Ministry of Health, GNCTD for MedLEaPR (Medical Legal Case Portal) and recruitments in various implementing departments/agencies: FSL informed that the job advertisement for 200 posts had been sent to DSSSB on 31.08.2024 and draft RRs for another 11 posts had been posted on the website for comments.

For the proposed recruitment of 165 Junior Scientific Assistants on a contractual to permanent basis, 5,000 applications were received and the ongoing interviews in this regard were expected to be completed by 12 September 2024.

The Ministry of Finance has allocated Rs 115 crore for procurement of additional equipment for the Public Prosecution Service (Rs 13 crore), FSL (Rs 50 crore) and Prisons (Rs 52 crore).

Regarding the decision taken at the last meeting regarding the expedited procurement of mobile forensic vans by Delhi Police and FSL, it was informed that 15 vans have already been commissioned, another 15 are expected to be commissioned by the end of September and tenders for another six vans have been issued by FSL.

The prosecution, which was struggling with space shortage, had raised the issue in the last meeting and LG had directed to release space for them as soon as possible. Accordingly, it was informed that 13,000 sq. ft. space would be provided to the prosecution in the DMRC building in Shastri Park.

Regarding the proposal to submit the draft charge sheets prepared by the Delhi Police to the Public Prosecutor's Office only online, it was informed that NIC had submitted a purchase proposal of Rs. 40 lakh to resolve the technical glitches and to provide sufficient online storage space.

Central government hospitals, AIIMS, Safdarjung and Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital are on board with MedLEaPR. 280 Delhi government doctors and 44 central government doctors have registered on the platform and have already prepared 247 medico-legal reports through MedLEaPR. All the doctors have already completed regular training by NIC and the legal department.