Bhubaneswar: Odisha Police spent far less money for the training of its staff in 2018 as compared to the previous year. This was revealed in the ‘Data on Police Organizations, 2019’, a comprehensive report on police infrastructure in the country, published by the Bureau of Police Research and Development.
Of the total police budget of `3,559.51 crore in 2018, a paltry amount of `45.37 crore was earmarked for the training of police personnel in various ranks. Moreover, of the `3109.81 crore, the total expenditure of the state police in 2018, Odisha Police just spent `40.34 crore on training. In the previous year, the expenditure on training stood at a poor 1.33 per cent of the annual budget. This dropped to 1.30 per cent in 2018.
However, the report by BPRD indicated an increase in the strength of women personnel in the state compared to that in 2017. The actual strength of women police personnel (including civil, district armed reserve and armed) increased to 5,730 in 2018 against 5,373 in 2017. As against the national average of 9.52 per cent, the state recorded 6.64 per cent increase in the strength of women police in 2018.
Similarly, the sanctioned strength of state police was increased to 67,148 from 66,973 in the previous year. In 2017, there were 10,322 vacancies in the state police, which dropped drastically to 7,761 in 2018.
As per the report, 920 departmental disciplinary proceedings were initiated against Odisha Police personnel for various malpractices or crimes in 2018. The total number of such cases awaiting proceedings rose to 2,546, including 1,626 pending cases.
While, disciplinary action was initiated in 766 cases, 1,780 cases were still awaiting proceedings till 2018-end. The report also observed that the state did not provide any data related to the number of politicians and other VVIPs who were provided police protection for more than six months.