02-18-2008, 03:09 AM
http://www.dailypioneer.com/
<b>States don't have enough cops, firepower to fight Maoists </b>
Rakesh K Singh | New Delhi
Maoists may have waged a bloody war against the nation along the Red Corridor, but apart from the Centre's apathy, the absence of basic police infrastructure in the States is one of the main reasons behind failure in checking the growth of the Left-wing extremism.
Though the police remain the prime target, as was seen in Nayagarh in Orissa and other cases, yet they do not have enough firepower and manpower to counter the Maoist threat.
According to a Union Home Ministry report, thousands of posts are lying vacant in State police forces. These include 30,000 constables, over 7,000 sub-inspectors and about 600 Deputy Superintendents (DySPs) in Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.
The worst affected Chhattisgarh has a vacancy of 41.90 per cent of DySPs, 49.85 per cent of sub-inspectors and 19.95 per cent for the rank of constables. Chhattisgarh has 147 DySPs against sanctioned 253 posts, 836 sub-inspectors against 1,667 posts sanctioned for the job and 21,492 constables against required 26,848 positions.
Jharkhand, the second worst affected State, has a vacancy of 33.60 per cent in the rank of DySPs, 22.09 per cent for the post of sub inspectors and 16.93 per cent slots of constables. The State has vacancies for 85 DySPs. It has just 168 officers against a sanctioned strength of 253 posts. The State has 669 vacant posts of sub-inspectors with just 2,360 officials against sanctioned 3,029 slots and unfilled 6,295 rank of constables with 30,883 actual strength in contrast to authorised 37,178 jawans.
Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand accounted for 68 per cent of the violence last year, according to the Union Home Ministry figures. Out of the 214 security personnel killed in Maoist violence till November last year, 181 were killed in action in Chhattisgarh alone.
Chhattisgarh accounted for 39 per cent of total Maoist violence in the country in 2007. Seventy per cent of the ultra-Left violence in the State were reported from Dantewada and Bijapur.
Chhattisgarh has a police-population ratio of 1: 746 against the national average of 1: 699 and in contrast to the UN-recommended ratio of 1: 450. Jharkhand has relatively better police to population ratio of 1: 611 even as the same remains way below the figure recommended by the UN.
Bihar has the worst police-population ratio with one policeman for every 1,262 persons followed by West Bengal with a ratio of 1: 1,037, Orissa with 1: 987 and Andhra Pradesh with 1: 879.
Over 1,350 incidents of Maoist violence was reported from Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Orissa and West Bengal out of which 1,126 incidents were reported from Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa.
The sanctioned strength of the police forces, according to experts, is meant for peacetime policing and requires additional numbers as well specialised training for countering insurgency. Similar vacancies and poor police-population ratio exists in other affected States. With 34 Maoist outfits currently active across the country, there are only 12, 702 police stations, just one police station for every 86,000 citizens.
The Centre has asked the States to improve police-population ratio and increase the number of police stations in a time-bound manner besides imparting commando and jungle warfare training to the police personnel and strengthening of the intelligence gathering mechanisms. This apart, the Centre has also advised the Maoist-affected States for an institutionalised and coordinated attacks against the ultras.
On the contrary, the strength of the Central Reserve Police Force, the para-military force engaged in anti-Maoist operations across the country besides responsibilities in North-East States and Jammu & Kashmir has increased from 5,68,892 in 1997 to 7,51,616 in 2007.
<b>States don't have enough cops, firepower to fight Maoists </b>
Rakesh K Singh | New Delhi
Maoists may have waged a bloody war against the nation along the Red Corridor, but apart from the Centre's apathy, the absence of basic police infrastructure in the States is one of the main reasons behind failure in checking the growth of the Left-wing extremism.
Though the police remain the prime target, as was seen in Nayagarh in Orissa and other cases, yet they do not have enough firepower and manpower to counter the Maoist threat.
According to a Union Home Ministry report, thousands of posts are lying vacant in State police forces. These include 30,000 constables, over 7,000 sub-inspectors and about 600 Deputy Superintendents (DySPs) in Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.
The worst affected Chhattisgarh has a vacancy of 41.90 per cent of DySPs, 49.85 per cent of sub-inspectors and 19.95 per cent for the rank of constables. Chhattisgarh has 147 DySPs against sanctioned 253 posts, 836 sub-inspectors against 1,667 posts sanctioned for the job and 21,492 constables against required 26,848 positions.
Jharkhand, the second worst affected State, has a vacancy of 33.60 per cent in the rank of DySPs, 22.09 per cent for the post of sub inspectors and 16.93 per cent slots of constables. The State has vacancies for 85 DySPs. It has just 168 officers against a sanctioned strength of 253 posts. The State has 669 vacant posts of sub-inspectors with just 2,360 officials against sanctioned 3,029 slots and unfilled 6,295 rank of constables with 30,883 actual strength in contrast to authorised 37,178 jawans.
Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand accounted for 68 per cent of the violence last year, according to the Union Home Ministry figures. Out of the 214 security personnel killed in Maoist violence till November last year, 181 were killed in action in Chhattisgarh alone.
Chhattisgarh accounted for 39 per cent of total Maoist violence in the country in 2007. Seventy per cent of the ultra-Left violence in the State were reported from Dantewada and Bijapur.
Chhattisgarh has a police-population ratio of 1: 746 against the national average of 1: 699 and in contrast to the UN-recommended ratio of 1: 450. Jharkhand has relatively better police to population ratio of 1: 611 even as the same remains way below the figure recommended by the UN.
Bihar has the worst police-population ratio with one policeman for every 1,262 persons followed by West Bengal with a ratio of 1: 1,037, Orissa with 1: 987 and Andhra Pradesh with 1: 879.
Over 1,350 incidents of Maoist violence was reported from Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Orissa and West Bengal out of which 1,126 incidents were reported from Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa.
The sanctioned strength of the police forces, according to experts, is meant for peacetime policing and requires additional numbers as well specialised training for countering insurgency. Similar vacancies and poor police-population ratio exists in other affected States. With 34 Maoist outfits currently active across the country, there are only 12, 702 police stations, just one police station for every 86,000 citizens.
The Centre has asked the States to improve police-population ratio and increase the number of police stations in a time-bound manner besides imparting commando and jungle warfare training to the police personnel and strengthening of the intelligence gathering mechanisms. This apart, the Centre has also advised the Maoist-affected States for an institutionalised and coordinated attacks against the ultras.
On the contrary, the strength of the Central Reserve Police Force, the para-military force engaged in anti-Maoist operations across the country besides responsibilities in North-East States and Jammu & Kashmir has increased from 5,68,892 in 1997 to 7,51,616 in 2007.