Against the backdrop of rising crime in the country, where we hear of rapes and mass molestations on a daily basis, statistics released by the Bureau of Police Research and Development show the sorry state of affairs at many of our police stations in terms of infrastructure reflect a clear disconnect between government’s intent and resolve to fight crime.
At a time when India is moving rapidly towards becoming a digital economy where ‘cashless’ is the buzzword, it is astonishing that many police stations across the nation lack vehicles, phones and wireless. There are 188 police stations without a single vehicle, 402 lack telephone lines, 134 don't have wireless sets and there are 65 which neither have a telephone line nor wireless sets.
Insurgency-struck Manipur, which repeatedly finds itself in the grip of violence has 43 police stations without phones or wireless sets. Chhattisgarh has 161 police stations without vehicles. In an age where effective and quick communication is required to diffuse tension and tackle crime, our law enforcing personnel are left silent bystanders and incapacitated by the poor infrastructure. Government can’t expect its men to go to war without the firepower. If India has to keep pace with rising crime scene, it has to be updated with at least the basic infrastructure.
