The Indian police machinery is fraught with issues which are so glaring from the exhaustive recommendations of many high powered committees.
- From various police reform committees like the Ribeiro committee, Padmanabiah committee, Malimath committee and Administrative Reforms Commission recommendations, our police system is haunted by the following major issues.
- Lack of accountability due to unwarranted arrests, unlawful searches, torture and custodial rapes.
- Overburdened police force because of the high percentage of vacancies.
- Mismatch in constabulary’s skill set and responsibilities
- Poor service conditions like high working hours, inadequate insurance coverage, lack of welfare measures etc. erodes their morale and motivation
- Police-People relationship is in an unsatisfactory state because people view the police as corrupt, inefficient, politically partisan and unresponsive.
- Police force is ill-equipped to tackle newer threats in the form of cyber-attacks, bank frauds, organised crimes etc.
- Lack of women representation in the police force acts as an impediment in the effective implementation of the legislations on crimes against women.
- CAG audits have found shortages in weaponry with state police forces. For example, Rajasthan and West Bengal had shortages of 75% and 71% respectively.
- Hence India desperately needs a thoroughly reformed police force to ensure its very security and integrity.