Himachal may figure amongst the best states in people’s perception and performance, however it is also amongst states, where massive fund under-utilization remained a concern under Modernization of Police Force (MPF).

This is pointed out in the Status of Policing in India Report -2018, a study of performance and perceptions conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), which is one of India’s leading institutes for research in the social sciences and humanities.

Contrary to the conventional wisdom that money spent on law and order should improve policing, the improved grants and allocations did not translate into improved action on ground which is maintained in the study as pointed out by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).

Assessing 11 states, the audit spans over a period 2009 to 2016 comprising of largely comparable, parameters- weapons, training, police stations and housing, forensic science labs, communications and vehicle along with financial management, it also comprised of audit findings on the management of prisons of 4 states that included Himachal.

The improving the police infrastructure could go a long way in improving performance and perception maintains the study, which pointed out that the massive fund under-utilization lead to shortage of the required infrastructure.

On the police infrastructure index, Himachal at 0.36, figured sixth amongst the 23 states and Union Territories in the country, where 0 indicated worst performing and 1 indicates best performing.

The audits of the MPF programme reveal that in Himachal the non-utilization of funds ranged between 21 and 87 percent. There was shortage of police buildings, despite availability of funds and there was almost 88 percent shortage of staff quarters in the state.

The report also reveals that Himachal Pradesh has not yet revised its prison manual as per the Modern Prison Manual (MPM) 2003 of the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD).

According to the study the prisons in the state were overcrowded with the undertrail population about 50.6 percent.

Furthermore, citing the CAG audits of 2013-16, the study revealed that 809 new prisoners admitted were not segregated on medical grounds, age and behaviour.

Of this, 456 prisoners were found to be suffering from various diseases like tuberculosis, scabies and heart diseases and renal problems were lodged with other prisoners in the barracks.