Vacancies in Policing

• 08 Jul 2019

The Bureau of Police Research and development’s report on “vacancies in the police organization” has revealed that in India, 5.28 lakh police posts are lying vacant.

• High vacancy rate in police organizations points toward the deficiencies in Indian policing that needs to be tackled through police reforms.

Key Findings

• There are 23,79,728 sanctioned posts in police forces of all states of which only 18,51,332 were occupied.
• The states with high shortage of police personnel included Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Telangana, and Maharashtra while Nagaland is the only state where actual strength exceeded the sanctioned strength.
• The wide difference between sanctioned and actual strength of vacancies can be attributed to reasons like slow recruitment process, retirement, and untimely deaths.
• Naxal-affected Chhattisgah has 11,916 posts vacant in its sanctioned 71,606 posts, while the Odisha Police has 10,322 vacant posts against its sanctioned strength of 66,973 posts.
• Insurgency-hit Assam has 11,452 vacant posts in its sanctioned strength of 65,987 personnel while Jammu and Kashmir has 10,044 posts vacant in its sanctioned strength of 87,882 posts.

Bureau of Police Research and Development

• Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), under the Ministry of Home Affairs has the primary objective of modernization of police force.
• It takes direct and active interest in policing issues and promotes a speedy and systematic study of the police problems.
• In addition to two existing divisions (namely, Research, Statistics and Publication and Development) a training division was also set up under BPR&D on the recommendations of Gore committee in 1973.
• Issues relating to Correctional Administration Work are under BPR&D so that problems relating to prisons and implementation of deemed prison reforms can be taken up by the Bureau in a cohesive manner.
• The National Police Mission is also under the administrative control of BPR&D to transform the police forces in the country into effective instrument for maintenance of internal security and facing the challenges in the future, by equipping them with the necessary material, intellectual and organizational resources.