Shillong: Deputy Chief Minister incharge of Home (Police) Prestone Tynsong informed the Assembly on Thursday that the police force in Meghalaya remains understaffed in proportion to the state’s population.
Tynsong said that although more than 2,000 personnel have recently been recruited, around 1,000 additional vacancies still remain in the police department and will be advertised for recruitment.
He stated that, according to the norms of the Police Research and Development Bureau, the state requires a larger police force based on population size. Meghalaya currently has 86 police stations across the state.
The Deputy Chief Minister was replying to a question raised by Nongkrem MLA Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit regarding manpower strength in Police Stations, Police Outposts, the Traffic Branch, Police Reserve, CID and Special Branch.
According to Tynsong, Police Stations require 1,843 personnel but currently have 1,431. Police Outposts require 503 personnel but have 380, while the Traffic Branch requires 439 personnel but has 368. The CID requires 121 personnel but has 107 and the Special Branch requires 580 personnel but has 546.
Overall, the total sanctioned strength stands at 3,486 personnel, while the present strength is 2,832.
At present, 859 police personnel are deployed in the Police Reserve across the state’s 12 districts.
