Shortage of IPS officers in Nagaland: Report

BPR&D data shows high human resources, but low human resources in State police force

Morung Express News 
Dimapur | January 10

According to the ‘Data on Police Organizations’ released by the Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D), Nagaland was facing a shortage of Indian Police Service (IPS) officers.

As of January 1, 2020, out of 75 ‘Total Authorized Sanctioned IPS officers, there were only 56 in position, while 8 were on central deputation.

As reported by this newspaper earlier, while Nagaland had surplus personnel at lower level, considerable vacancies were seen in rank from Head Constable and above.

Police denisty 'best' in Naglaand 

With an actual strength of 28,113, Nagaland’s Population Per Police Person (PPP) ratio was 76.87 in Nagaland denoting a high police-citizen density.

In other words, there were 1 police personnel for every 76.87 individuals in Nagaland.

To compare, the overall actual PPP ratio in India was 641.93 – denoting that a single police personnel was looking after over 641 individuals, as highlighted in the latest ‘Data on Police Organizations’ released by the Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D).

BPR&D’s data, an agency under Union Ministry of Home Affairs, was as on January 1, 2020.

The State’s total strength (actual) of State Police (Civil + District Armed Reserve (DAR) + Spl Armed + IRB) of 28,113 was further divided as Civil Police - 5,832; District Armed Reserve Police - 3,352; State Armed Police - 13,067 and IRB - 5,862. 

State police forces generally have two arms: civil and armed police – the former responsible for day-to-day law and order and crime control while the latter is kept in reserve, till additional support is required during any eventuality.

Every state is divided into various field units for the purpose of effective policing: zones, ranges, districts, sub-divisions or circles, police stations and outposts, according to a PRS Legislative Research report.

Meanwhile, with high PPP, the Area in Sq Kms per police person (actual) in Nagaland was among the highest in India at 0.58. Overall, the actual ‘Area in Sq Kms per police person’ in India was 1.57 against sanctioned strength of 1.25.

Likewise, the Total Police Per Lakh Population’ (Actual) was also highest in Nagaland at 1300.93.  In India, the Sanctioned ‘Total Police Per Lakh Population’ was 195.39, while the Actual strength was 155.78, the BPR&D report informed.

Across India, a total of 53,675 (Revised) cases of departmental proceedings were pending against the police personnel, which include the cases initiated in the year 2019 and those cases, which were brought forward from the previous years.

Incidentally, there were ‘zero’ departmental proceedings for major penalty pending & disposed of in Nagaland during the calendar year 2019.

18 Police Stations sans wireless set, phone
While the data for Nagaland figured among the ‘best’ in the country in terms of human resources, however, the State seems to be lagging behind others in police infrastructure in many areas.

Of the 86 police stations in Nagaland, 18 do not have wireless or mobiles while 36 are without telephones, according to the report.

Notably, the report which was compiled during 2019 also revealed that the entire police force spanning 11 districts has only 1 breath analyser and no speedometers, as on January 1, 2020.

However, according to a senior police official, the department has since augmented the equipment and that breath analysers are available, although due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, they are not in use.

Speedometers or speed guns will also be procured and used once the highway construction is complete, Dimapur Commissioner of Police informed The Morung Express on Sunday.

In terms of transport resources, 1,696 vehicles are available to the state police force, out of which 183 are in police stations. The state has 34 special vehicles which include 20 PCR vehicles, 7 bomb disposal vehicles, 5 bullet proof vehicles and 2 water cannons. The state does not have any mine protected vehicles, as per the report.

Nagaland has a total of 16 Anti Sabotage Team (AST)/Check Team/Bomb Detection and Bomb Disposal Squads.

As per the BPRD data, out of the 86 sanctioned police stations, 53 are rural police stations while 19 are urban. The state also has 14 special purpose police stations of which 12 are for crimes against women and children, 1 for narcotics and drug trafficking and 1 for cyber crime.

However, the state police force does not have any social media monitoring cell(s), according to the report.

Technology wise, the state has 1 Forensic Science Laboratory, 540 personal computers and 1 laptop, 865 CCTV cameras and 1 server.

The state does not have any animals such as tracker dogs, sniffer dogs, horses or camels, etc., in the police force, the report said.