When Maoists in Odisha are in recruitment mode, the State police are grappling with a whopping 7,000 odd vacancies.
Furthermore, when ultras go for mopping up around Rs 150-200 crore annual budget in Odisha, not a single penny on capital outlay (for procuring modern arms and communication sets, intelligence-cum-forensic gadgets, fortified police stations etc) was allocated to State police for two consecutive fiscal years of 2014-15 and 2015-16. And, when the State Government expects a buoyancy of around 22 per cent in revenue from State police in 2015-16, its spending on police forces in State was spiked by mere 11 per cent in 2015-16.
Data with the State Home Department reveals vacancies in State police right from teeth to tail (from high-ups to lower subordinates). While with a total of around 79 vacancies at IPS-level, Odisha fared third worst after UP and West Bengal in the country. In addition, over 6,000 odd vacancies have been reported in the subordinate ranks up to constabulary level.
Though vacancies in neighbouring Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand - Maoist-hit States -were higher than Odisha in 2015 but the fact is Odisha has over 9,000 less police personnel than Chhattisgarh, despite having 1.6 crore more population. Even Jharkhand has around 5,000 cops more than Odisha despite having around 90 lakh less people. Incidentally, Odisha also has almost twice the incidents of violent crimes and higher crime rates, especially in dacoity and robbery, than Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.
How compromised the State police are could well be ascertained from the fact that as many as 15 Police Stations in State still don’t have even the basic communication facilities like wireless system and phones. A deficiency of a high of around 20 per cent has been observed in vehicles available and required.
Moreover, the State fared poor in computerisation and digitisation of Police Stations. Despite this, Budget 2015-16 has earmarked a token sum of Rs 27 lakh for computerisation scheme.
Odisha still receives Central grant for procuring vital policing infra like mobility, weapons, training equipment, forensic equipment and computerisation. The State got nearly Rs 15 crore from Union Government in 2015-16. But the missing matching grant from State ails the cops coping with violent crimes like dacoities and Naxals.
On the contrary, as per intelligence sources, Naxals didn’t affect any cut in their war machinery. Rather, they spend a considerable amount on acquiring weapons, ammunition and explosives from the grey arms market. As per CRPF sources estimate, Maoists mop up nearly Rs 150-200 crore in Odisha annually.
A hefty portion was collected from PWD, timber and Minor Forest Produce (MFP) contractors. Significant amount was also collected in Angul and elsewhere as protection fee from illegal cannabis cultivators, sources remarked. Interestingly, unlike terror groups who indulge in money transfer via hawala channels through banks, Maoists stack up poly packs of currencies in metal boxes and dump in water tanks in deep forests, sources indicated.