The VIP culture in the country continues to exist despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi putting a ban on the use of red beacon lights. A police-to-population data compiled by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), under the home ministry division recently made some startling revelations by stating that there are 3 cops to protect each VIP but just 1 for every 663 common man.
Amid reports of a shortage of police officers in the country, the data revealed that out of a total 19.26 lakh police officials in India, as many as 56,944 are deployed for the safety of more than 20,000 VIPs across various states. It must be noted that Lakshadweep is the only state/Union Territory where none of the VIPs has been provided with police protection. That leaves just one cop to protect every 663 common citizens.
While we continue to debate about the safety of women in the country, the data comes as an eye opener which also states that VIPs having police protection is more like a status symbol than to deal with threats.
The revelation comes months after the government imposed a ban on red beacon lights in a bid to put an end to VIP culture in India. Asserting that these symbols do not “touch the spirit of new India,” the Prime Minister had affirmed that every Indian was special and “every Indian is a VIP.”
As per the BPR&D data, in Bihar 6,248 police officers provide protection to 3,200 VIPs. Meanwhile, in West Bengal, 2,207 VIPs are being given protection by 4,233 cops. In Uttar Pradesh, whose chief minister Yogi Adityanath had backed the government’s decision to ban red beacon lights and had decided to curtail security cover of politicians and others, 1901 VIPs are protected by 4,681 cops.
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