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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\nCurrently, the Odisha police have around 59,500 personnel as against the sanctioned strength of 67,150. <\/span><\/p>\n BHUBANESWAR: In a significant move to address the shortage of manpower in police stations in the state, chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday sanctioned 905 posts in different ranks for at least 220 police stations and six outposts. Naveen also approved the establishment of six new police stations that were proposed a few years ago.
The posts would be filled up through rationalization of manpower in the police force, which means that the 905 posts\/vacancies in other establishments and anti-Naxal force of Odisha police would be surrendered and transferred in favour of the 220 police stations without causing additional financial burden on the government exchequer.
Significant improvement in the left-wing extremism (LWE) activities in several districts has helped the government in re-deploying its personnel in police stations.
The state government recently slipped into austerity mode in the wake of massive fall in the collection of revenue and imposed curbs on new appointments.
The government said the rationalization of the police force was imperative to enhance the skeletal strength of the police stations that are vital in the control of crime and delivery of essential services to the needy.
\u201cSignificant decline in the Maoist menace in different districts has enabled the state government to rationalize the manpower in police,\u201d Naveen said in a written statement.
The state government recently declared five districts\u2014Angul, Boudh, Sambalpur, Deogarh and Nayagarh\u2014as Maoist-free belts. A total of 10 out of 30 districts in the state are now affected by the LWE menace. \u201cWe have rationalized most posts in those districts that do not require the deployment of more force any more. Vacancies against those posts have been transferred to police stations,” a senior police officer said.
Notably, the chief minister had asked the director general of police (DGP) Abhay to depute more personnel in police stations through rationalization. The 220 police stations that would get more manpower are spread across 21 police districts. At least 20 police stations in Balasore, 16 in Keonjhar, 15 in Ganjam, 10 in Bhubaneswar, 6 in Cuttack, 15 in Puri, 14 in Angul and 13 police stations in Bhubaneswar will get the additional cops.
\u201cWe are deeply grateful to @Naveen_Odisha for sanctioning 905 posts for 220 police stations of Odisha. This will help us in controlling crime and improving service delivery to residents,\u201d DGP Abhay tweeted.
Currently, the state police have around 59,500 personnel as against the sanctioned strength of 67,150. The 621-odd police stations in the state have around 26,900 personnel against the sanctioned strength of 31,181. \u201cMost of our vacancies exist in the ranks of inspector, sub-inspector and assistant sub-inspector, who are backbones of police stations. Though we have recruited nearly 4,700 personnel in various ranks in the last five years, we still have around 4,000 vacancies. While Odisha\u2019s population stands at nearly 4.5 crore, only around 80 policemen are currently present in the state for one lakh population as against the sanction of 155 cops for one lakh population. The national average is around 160 per 1 lakh population. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n