The Centre has released ₹7.69 crore each as an incentive to 10 States, under the scheme of modernisation of police force in the last fiscal. A Home Ministry official said the amount has been given for the States that have succeeded in implementing police reforms such as filling up of vacancies, use of technology in tackling crime and welfare of police personnel. The following States were found eligible for the incentive: Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, the official said.
Police reforms have been on the agenda of successive governments since Independence. However, progress in this area has been slow, which led to giving incentives to the States which perform better. The 10 States that were rewarded have shown a tremendous progress in filling vacant posts, use of emerging mobile and IT applications, GIS-based computer-aided dispatch, online complaints system and electronic record keeping among others.
The other areas where the States showed progress include procurement of modern weapons, equipment, vehicles, CCTV surveillance, data centres, command and control centres. Welfare measures such as provision of housing and medical facilities for police personnel and rest-room facilities for women personnel in police stations have also been taken into account while choosing the State for the incentive, another official said.
Meanwhile, the budget allocation for financial year 2018-19 was ₹769 crore for sub-scheme of Assistance to States for Modernisation of Police against which ₹768.83 crore (almost 100%) has been released. The entire allocation of ₹100 crore for Assistance to the State government for Special Projects/ Programmes for upgrading police infrastructure has also been released by the Home Ministry, the official said
