Will ensure good working conditions for police: Shah

Vowing to undertake time-bound measures to ensure good working conditions to over-worked police personnel, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said police forces are severely understaffed where only 144 personnel are available for a population of one lakh when the ideal strength is 222.

Addressing the Police Commemoration Day, Shah said the fruits of development can reach the last mile only when law and order are stable and police have an incredibly important role in ensuring that it does.

October 21 is observed as Police Commemoration Day to pay homage to 10 CRPF personnel killed in an ambush by Chinese troops in 1959 in Ladakh's "snow-laden, inaccessible, inhospitable terrain" Hot Spring area. A patrol party of twenty personnel of CRPF and Intelligence Bureau had gone to search for a missing reconnaissance party when it was ambushed by PLA (Chinese Army).

As per the latest data, over 35,136 police personnel have been killed in action since independence till August this year. During September last year and August this year alone, 292 personnel have laid down their lives while on duty.

Describing police personnel as "silent sentinels" of the nation, he said from the guarding of borders to traffic management and fighting the menace of illicit drugs to battling terrorism, they have played a "quiet yet seminal role" in the country's development.

Shah said they are working under difficult conditions. "Police forces in India are severely understaffed, with an actual strength of 144 police personnel per one lakh population as opposed to the sanctioned strength of 222. Because of this shortage of manpower, most policemen work long hours and not take weekly leaves," he said.

"When we see police work in a normal way, it looks usual but when we change the perspective we understand that the development strides our country is taking is due to the dedicate and silent service of these policemen...Our government has done a lot for police welfare and I can assure you that we will be doing more work, taking more steps to ensure health, housing, family welfare and a good working environment for you in a time-bound manner," he said.