Hyderabad: The new Director General of Police (DG) of Telangana State M. Mahender Reddy on Sunday said making Telangana a crime-free state and thereby helping the state prosper in terms of industry growth is his top priority.

Speaking to media after taking charge from the out-going DGP Anurag Sharma, Mahender Reddy said perfect law and order maintenance has a key role in the state's development and his top priority is to make each employee in the police department understand his or her importance in the mission to make Telangana a crime-free state.

All officials in the department - right from home guards to top level - would be given their due recognition in our effort to make Telangana a safe and secure state and improve the brand image of Hyderabad, Reddy said.

To improve service in the police department, three separate uniform service delivery standards would be formulated - one set for the three Commissionerates in the capital city region of GHMC, secod for all other Commissionerates in the state and the third set would be for all the rural police stations, Reddy said. These standards would help each and every official in the department to understand his or her duties clearly so that they can contribute their fullest for their respective duties, he said.

The DGP further said that several initiatives in the past few years such as community CCTVs and SHE teams have achieved tremendous results and the department would strive to improve the law and order situation until the goal of making Telangana a crime free state is achieved. "If the law and order situation is perfect, investments from all over the world will pour in and our youth will get employment opportunities. This can contribute immensely for the overall development of the state," Reddy said.

The DGP also emphasized the need for community participation in containing crime and said programs would be initiated to motivate social groups and communities join hands with the police in making Telangana a crime-free state.