While Mumbai continues to grapple with vacant posts in the police force and the traffic wing, the state government has deployed additional manpower to guard Mantralaya. As per the data-driven reply given to a query filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the city reels under dearth of uniformed personnel; be it high-ranking posts like deputy commissioner of police (DCP) or junior positions of police sub-inspectors (PSI). The inadequacy puts a question mark on Mumbai's security as the police's response time increases given their resources are spread thin.
Mantralaya has 34% more guard than sanctioned strength
Mantralaya has 519 security guards, which is 34% more than the sanctioned strength of 385, pointed out RTI activist Jitendra Ghadage who got the reply to his query in August. In stark contrast, traffic police face a 34% shortage as 1,326 out of 3,835 sanctioned posts are lying vacant. The data further revealed that eight (roughly 20%) out of 42 DCP posts, which should be helmed by IPS officers, are currently unfilled.
Lower rank police vacancies remain unfilled
Climbing down the hierarchy, 404 (20%) out of 1,978 PSI positions are unoccupied hence overburdening the existing staff with crime detection and prosecution. The situation is particularly dire in the crucial south zone, the heart of the city and home to numerous VIP residents, where a staggering 1,847 (43%) out of 4,295 of lower rank police force vacancies remain unfilled. The same issue plagues the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) which has a sanctioned strength of 346 and 164 (47%) of them are vacant. The LA-5 Kole Kalyan unit faces the highest vacancy rate as a whopping 902 (90%) out of 1,003 positions are empty.
“The government's priorities are clear, it prioritises Mantralaya and VIP security over deploying force to manage the city's traffic. Junior police personnel are the foot soldiers who play a crucial role in maintaining Mumbai's security. However, the force's sanctioned are incommensurate with Mumbai's (population) growth in recent decades,” said Ghadge.
