Survey findings, in fact, 'flattering' for Delhi Police: Bassi

Countering Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's charge that police in the national capital were the "most corrupt", Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi on Wednesday said a survey cited by the former was actually "flattering" for the force.

The findings of the survey had "doubled" his force's enthusiasm, Bassi said after the police Commemoration Day parade here.

"The survey reveals that in 2012, 80 percent of Delhi's people said they had experienced corruption in dealing with police officials; that rate dropped to 34 percent in 2015.... Similarly, the perception that police officials are corrupt dropped from 56 percent in 2012 to 49 percent in 2015," said Bassi, who claimed to have gone through the 34-page survey done by Centre for Media Studies.

The police chief said, "After reading the survey thoroughly, I can go for a one-on-one debate with anybody regarding its findings. If the honourable chief minister allows, I can help him understand those findings."

Bassi said sanitation and police services were the only areas in Delhi that witnessed a drop, both in terms of experienced and perceived corruption.

Citing the survey, Kejriwal on Tuesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "stop being stubborn" and hand over police and Anti-Corruption Branch to the Delhi government.