Modern police, old armoury

The city police had to take the support of paramilitary forces during the December floods, defeating the very purpose of the Modernisation of Police Force (MPF) scheme, envisaged by the Central government. 

Both the MPF and the Mega City Policing schemes have not brought in a visible change in the way police function either in Chennai or in the districts. Policemen, mostly the constabulary, who are the first one  to bear the brunt of law and order issues, continue to struggle with faulty walkie talkies, ill-fitting shoes, poor quality uniforms, fragile protection shields and archaic lathis. 

The year 2016 also had not been of much difference as far as implementation of MPF schemes are concerned, reveals the policy note tabled by the Home Department in the Assembly on Thursday. 

During 2016, under the MPF scheme, only Rs.6.56 crore was sanctioned for purchase of three linear junction detectors, three explosive vapour detectors, one vehicle mounted baggage scanner, three X-Ray baggage scanners, four multi-zone door frame metal detectors, 100 bullet proof jackets, 100 bullet proof helmets, five digital video cameras and threenight vision binoculars. 

Only Rs 2.51 crore was spent on buying modern forensic equipment. Meanwhile, Thanjavur and Tiruvarur districts got a digital mobile radio system and  accessories at a cost of Rs.14.57 crore. 

The 2016-17 policy note had listed out several schemes under MPF, like purchase of riot equipment, purchase of equipment for intelligence, purchase of VHF communication equipment but the present government has fared very badly in utilising the fund. 

The cyber crime wings in the state continue to struggle with outdated software and hardware tools, with no money to pay to the developers to update them. 

“The problem is that, when we speak about modernisation, the higher authorities only think about purchase of bullet proof jackets and metal detectors. 

Our focus should be  to provide good quality basic stuff to the constabulary, to provide them proper weapons and equipment to save their lives and protect the public. We should have a proper contingency plan and keep things ready to meet eventualities like December floods,” a senior police official on request of anonymity told DT Next. “We had seen policemen suffering with broken shields, broken lathis and torn shoes when violence broke out in Chennai post the jallikattu protest. Many had gone to the field without even helmets and proper gear to help them stay safe,” the official added. 

The financial allocation under MPF for the year 2016 was only Rs.29. 45 crore. The central allocation on MPF had been consistently decreasing from 2000-01 to 2015-16, except for 2010-11, where the Centre had given Rs.92.52 crore. 

The State government’s share also was reduced proportional to the fund from the Centre. From 2000 to 2003, the state government matched amount allocated to the state by the Central government. 

In 2000-01 the allocation from the central government was Rs.76.50 crore and the state also put in the same amount, taking the total allocation to Rs. 153 crore, the highest in the last 17 years. 

For the following two years, also, the State government matched the Central government allocation for MPF. Subsequently, contribution from both the Central and State governments started to decline. 

The policy note for 2017-18 does not even mention about the Mega City Policing project, which is part of the MPF.