Chandigarh, December 13
Key investigating officers and police stations have become virtually out of reach for people in Punjab as the state police department has failed to get the corporate user group (CUG) mobile plan renewed for its officers and men for the past two months.

Mobile phones have become the only means of contacting officials with landline phones having been disconnected due to non-payment of bills for long periods. With no landline and official mobile phones functioning, only a favoured few who know the personal mobile phone numbers of officers or police personnel are able to contact them.

Police officials posted at the headquarters here said the force’s contract with Idea came to an end two months back. Since then, there had been confusion on whether to go in for another CUG plan or allow police personnel to choose their own mobile service provider. The second option came into being after all police personnel were sanctioned a mobile allowance.

Director General of Police Anil Kaushik has recently cleared a proposal to allow district and unit heads to decide on the mobile service provider for their men. A letter in that regard has been sent to all Senior Superintendents Police (SSPs). Zonal IGs have been asked to coordinate among districts under them to ensure smooth connectivity among their officials.

Sources said SSPs had, however, communicated to the police headquarters here that such a system would not be effective. They advocated a single CUG for the entire state. The number of police telephones had gone up from 6,400 to 20,000. This gives the force immense bargaining power to get the best deal from service providers. Sources said the lowest plan could be up to Rs 80 per month.

Officers said a single CUG would ensure low bills, as most calls within the group would be free or subsidised. Sources said, the earlier contract with Idea had been cancelled with the aim of getting a better CUG deal for the entire force.