Former footballer Sailen Manna distributes prizes of Friendship Cup football tournament, organised by the police. A Telegraph picture

India’s first community policing department has been set up in Calcutta, to forge a better relationship with the public.

“The department, set up a week ago, has an officer-in-charge and an additional officer-in-charge. The aim is better police-public interface, which is the need of the hour,” police chief Prasun Mukherjee told Metro.

“The officers will co-ordinate with the 48 police stations in the city and will hold meetings in respective areas,” he added.

The department’s office is currently at Bodyguard Lines, the Calcutta Armed Police headquarters.

“We will form co-ordination committees in each police station area. Eminent personalities will be part of the committees. They will meet every month,” said a senior officer at Lalbazar.

The chief minister, who had come up with the idea in the 1980s, when he was the home minister, gave the green light to the department recently.

Despite his enthusiasm, implementation of community policing has been a problem. A couple of months ago, an accident victim was left to die on the road at night as officers of two police stations bickered over jurisdiction. A businessman robbed at gunpoint and thrown out of a vehicle was recently made to shuttle between police stations to lodge a complaint.

“Creating a new department for the sake of it is not going to help. What is needed is a change in mindset and sustained effort,” said a senior officer at Lalbazar.