By Arun Pratap Singh
Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 29 Dec: Expenditure by the Uttarakhand Police has surged more than four-fold over the past five years, climbing from Rs 40.377 crores in the financial year 2020-21 to Rs 209.63 crores in 2024-25. This is a staggering 419 per cent increase which has been revealed in response to an RTI query. The response to the RTI query has been provided by Public Information Officer and Superintendent of Police (Personnel) Kamlesh Upadhyay from Budget Manual-8 for all departmental heads across 2021-22 to 2024-25 via letter number 579. Yet, as budgets balloon under heads like remuneration, secret services, and machinery, questions remain whether this extraordinary surge in the expenditure has translated into any tangible improvement in law and order and the policing in the state.
While the total expenditure on policing was Rs 40.377 crores in in FY 2020-21, the expenditure rose by 59 per cent to Rs 64.35 crores in 2021-22, dipped to Rs 42.10 crores in 2022-23, then exploded more than threefold to Rs 146.77 crores in 2023-24 before peaking at Rs 209.63 crores in 2024-25. For 2024-25 alone, the salaries consumed Rs 19.01 crores and the wages consumed Rs 6.99 lakhs, the DA accounted for Rs 9.94 crores with travel expenses at Rs 27.5 crores. The other allowances resulted in expenditure of Rs 1.74 crores. The remuneration topped Rs 27.73 crores, the medical reimbursement, Rs 24.96 lakhs, the stationery and printing, Rs 39.99 lakhs, the office furniture and equipment, Rs 8.98 lakhs, and the office expenses, Rs 49.99 lakhs.
Other outlays included Rs 5 lakhs on rent, rates, and taxes; Rs 54 lakhs on advertising and publicity; Rs 74.13 lakhs on utility bills; Rs 10.50 crore on computer hardware, software, and maintenance; Rs 5.92 crores on professional and special services; Rs 24.95 crores on office vehicle purchases; Rs 37.98 crores on vehicle operation, maintenance, and fuel; Rs 6.98 lakhs on hospitality; Rs 1.50 crores on secret service expenditure; Rs 47.25 crores on machinery, equipment, and plant; and Rs 9 .98 lakhs on other departmental charges. CCTV installations, mandated by Supreme Court orders and booked under machinery head since 2020-21, jumped from Rs 2.49 crores that year to Rs 47.26 crores in 2024-25, a 17-fold rise, as clarified in letter 556(1) by Superintendent of Police (Budget).
While the rise in salaries and allowances is natural and understandable, the questions do arise why has policing shown no commensurate upgrade? Incidents across Uttarakhand suggest local intelligence and proactive measures remain woefully inadequate despite these funds. This is despite a sharp hike of 16 fold in the expenditure under the head Secret Services during these 5 years. There are serios questions whether the local intelligence networks could not be strengthened satisfactorily despite the hike in the funds.
Last Saturday’s violent protests in Rishikesh erupted without apparent anticipation or clue to the police, and they expose gaps in real-time monitoring even as CCTV budgets swelled. Racial crimes targeting North-East students have recurred in Dehradun, with local intelligence seemingly failing to identify vulnerable spots or at-risk persons for prevention. Past reports bear this out. The brutal knife attack leading to the murder of Angel Chakma from Tripura by the local youth in the state capital points to a deeper malaise: no evident intelligence gathering to avert such tragedies, leaving law and order unsatisfactory even in Dehradun. The youth in Dehradun are openly wandering with knives and weapons without any fear of law. The crimes related to property encroachment and land frauds also continue in Dehradun and the rest of the state. If secret service outlays have risen 16-fold and remuneration 243-fold, why do these foreseeable breakdowns persist?
