To implement the High Court’s order to the State Government for setting up regular police stations in the revenue areas, the State police would have to set up around 20 regular police stations and around 40 police posts in such areas, which would cost the State exchequer over Rs 100 crore. This is aside from the expenses the State Government would have to spend additionally to pay salaries to the newly recruited police personnel to be deployed in the hills.
“This is a daunting challenge in view of the fact that presently 60 per cent of the State’s territory is now under the revenue police. Besides, the funds to be pumped in replacing revenue police with regular police would cost the State’s coffers a lot at a time when the State Government is grappling with a grim resource crunch, borrowing from outside to meet the expenses on clearing salary of its employees,” said a senior police officer who insisted on anonymity.
It is learnt that the number of police personnel working in the city- based police stations is more than what is required for the police stations in the rural and the mountainous areas of the State.
As per the general rule, one police station officer, four sub-inspectors, five head constables and 15 constables are required for running a police station while one sub-inspector, one head constable and eight police constables are needed for running a police post.
The salaries and other allowances of inspectors, sub-inspectors, head constables and constables are roughly Rs 80, 000, Rs 65,000, Rs 50, 000 and Rs 35, 000 respectively.
Around Rs 60 lakh is being spent every month to clear salaries for a single police station in the cities while the amount is in the neighbourhood of Rs 40 lakh per month in the rural areas.
It should be mentioned here that the Nainital High Court had ordered the abolition of the revenue police system, started way back in 1861 by then British India Government, while asking the State Government to replace revenue police with regular police in six months.
Additional Director General of police (law and order) Ashok Kumar said that State administration is yet to give them any instruction regarding setting up police stations and posts in the revenue areas.
However, the police district chiefs have been directed to send the report on the number of police stations needed in the revenue area under their jurisdictional limits.
“Police department may think in terms of extending the jurisdictional limits of the existing police stations in the revenue areas to execute the High Court order for the time being till the policing infrastructure is put into place permanently in the hills,” said a senior police officer.