No modernisation of Police Force in State:CAG

Aizawl, Apr 2: Even after 35 years of its implementation, the modernisation of Police Force has failed to take off in Mizoram, mainly due to improper fund management and failure to release matching share by the state government.

This was pointed out by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India report tabled in the Assembly yesterday. Mismanagement of funds under the police modernisation scheme figures prominently in the CAG report for the fiscal ended March 31, 2007.

Despite the scheme being in operation in the state for over three and a half decades, it failed to achieve its objectives. The scheme was plagued by non-release of matching share by the state government and where funds were available, the department failed to utilise them efficiently and effectively, the CAG said.

The scheme, introduced by the government of India in 1969, focuses on provision of residential accommodation for upper and lower subordinates of police force, construction of permanent buildings for police stations and outposts conforming to specified norms, improving the mobility of police force and skill upgradation and capacity enhancement through training.

The Mizoram home department had failed to attain all these objectives mainly due to improper fund management, failure to focus on the priority areas of the scheme, irrational deployment of vehicles, and inadequate training to police personnel, the report said.

Absence of internal control, internal audit and lack of proper monitoring, according to the CAG, also contributed significantly to poor implementation of the scheme.

The CAG underlined that retention of huge unspent balances ranging from Rs 0.66 crore to Rs 6.10 crore at the end of each year indicated the failure of the department to optimally utilise funds available with it.

It also observed that the failure to implement the police modernisation scheme resulted in higher crime rate in the state compared to the national average.

The state's share, which was not related to the department, amounted to Rs 10. 85 crore, according to the CAG report.

UNI