Three deadlines and more than three years after the Police Net Project (Polnet) was launched with the objective to give a cutting edge to police communication, only 2,500 police stations — out of 11,502 in the country — have been connected so far. Most of the states that have defaulted are either insurgency prone or backward where the need for an efficient communication is all the more necessary.

The project has been particularly dragging in Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Kerala.

Polnet is designed to be a satellite-based network with very small aperture terminals (VSATs) at state capitals and district headquarters.

The plan is facing hurdle in extending voice connectivity to police stations through an equipment called Multi Access Radio Telephones (Mart) on account of what is called the “line-of-sight” problem.

For Mart to function effectively, it must be ensured that highrises or hills do not stand in the way of the wireless communication between the thana and the district headquarters. An assessment carried out by the Home Ministry recently revealed that it might not be possible to install the equipment in as many as 6000 police stations across the country.

Estimated to cost Rs 99.06 crore, Polnet was conceived by the Home Ministry as a tool to fight inter-state crimes by establishing a direct communication network between state police headquarters. On completion, the project will enable higher data carrying capabilities, fax, store-and-forward messaging and audio and video-conferencing.