| Introduction: Contextual introduction. Body: Write some challenges faced by the police force in India. Also write some policy measures can be taken to reform it. Conclusion: Write a way forward. |
Police come under the state list of schedule 7 of the Indian constitution. The center is also allowed to maintain its own police forces to assist the states with law and order maintenance. Therefore, it maintains seven central police forces and some other police organizations for specialized tasks. Expenditure on police accounts for about 3% of the central and state government budgets.
Challenges faced by the police force in India:
- Increased political control: The Second Administrative Reforms Commission(2007) has noted that the excessive power in the hands of police has been abused in the past by the political executive.
- Understaffed and overburdened: As per the United Nations recommended standard, India should have 222 police per lakh persons. But, the actual strength was 137 police.
- Abysmal Training: the training institutions have not kept pace with the changing paradigm on the law or crime front and are manned generally by unwanted, demotivated officers.
- Infrastructural Issues: The CAG auditshave found shortages in weaponry with state police forces. On the other hand, funds dedicated to the modernisation of infrastructure are typically not utilised fully.
- Low incentive to work: 86% of the state police comprise the constabulary. Constables are typically promoted once during their service. This weakens the incentive for them to perform well.
Measures:
- The government has to implement recommendations like separating the investigation and law and order functionsof the police, establishing Police Establishment Board (PEB) to decide transfers, etc.
- Bringing the police under the “concurrent list”of the Constitution. This will also help in creating uniform standards in policing.
- There is a need to fully utilise the finances sanctioned by the government. The funds can be utilised to update the IT infrastructureand provide technology training for police personnel. Adopting future technologies in police will help to fulfil grassroots policing requirements and will help in faster functioning of the police.
- Police should be made more gender-sensitive. 33% reservation for women in the police should be implemented to achieve that.
- The police station must be reinforced with adequate staff and its infrastructure upgraded with better transport, communication and forensic facilities.
There is a need of the SMART Police — a force which would be strict and sensitive, modern and mobile, alert and accountable, reliable and responsive, techno-savvy and trained.
