Police reforms have been a blind spot for successive governments, with the force diminishing in both number and capacity
It is safe to say that the overall law and order scenario in the country makes for a grim picture. The sheer number of criminal incidents shows that Indians live in dangerous times, with a declining policecitizen ration across cities and villages in every state.
Comparative figures show that there has hardly been any change in the strength of police personnel at the time when country reports substantial increase in the number of crimes. The statistics brought out by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) show that while the number of crime incidents increased by over two lakh in 2007 as compared to 2002, the number of cops available for per lakh population (police-population ratio) remained the same.
Incidentally on this count, both the NDA and UPA governments had shown similar result. The police-population ratio hovered around 125 (125 cops per lakh of population) during 2000-2003 and 2004-2007 means lesser number of cops available to citizens despite growth in crime rate.
Though the sanctioned strength of cops in the country records some improvement, the existing vacancies have made the situation worse. The country’s police-population ratio low compared to many other countries is getting worse by the year if one looks at the sanctioned strength.
Data shows that the sanctioned strength declined from 143 police personnel per lakh population (January 1, 2006) to 126 police personnel per lakh population (January 1, 2007). Which means there used to be one cop available for 699 persons in 2006 the UN norm is one for 450 and a year later, it was down to one for 739.
Despite a sanctioned strength of 15.7 lakh, the actual strength of the total police force was 14.1 lakh, with 10.2% of the posts lying vacant as of January 1, 2007. Almost all the states show poor result no matter whether they are ruled by NDA or UPA or the Left parties.
In a number of states, the ratio is much lower than the national average (126) Bihar (57), UP (83), West Bengal (94), Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand (98), Orissa (99), Rajasthan (104) and Madhya Pradesh (114).
Inadequate numbers of arms and ammunition, vehicles and other police infrastructre has made the situation worse. Though the Centre has pumped in substantial amount of money to improve these facilities under modernization of state police forces (Rs 1,248.70 crore in 2007-08 as compared to Rs 695 crore in 2002-03), it has not shown any improvement with the states barely able to meet requirements.
Dismal records of successive governments towards police reforms are yet another point which is responsible for poor policing across the country. While states like Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Tripura have either enacted police legislation or amended the existing police Acts in this regard in the wake of Supreme Court’s intervention, the Centre has completely missed out on this point.
A new legislation in respect of police administration for Union Territories to replace the earlier enactment didn’t see the light of day.
Times View:
Going by the book, ‘law and order’ is technically the responsibility of individual states. But no-one can deny that the buck really stops with the Centre, which has the upper hand in a federal set-up. No state would dither in implementing various police modernization schemes provided the states are given adequate financial support and a constant review. One can take a cue from what the government has done post 26/11. When Centre got activated after sensing the urgency, states too fell in line, taking all the necessary steps to strengthen the security apparatus. So the onus to pave the way for states to act upon desired guidelines lies with the Centre.
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