BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Police continues to face an acute manpower crunch but its top brass has done little to address the problem. Instead of filling up vacancies or creating new posts, it has been redeploying manpower for newly-designed projects.
The newly-created 14 cybercrime and economic offences police stations are a glaring example for which the state Police abolished 154 posts in four of its establishments including the Special Operations Group (SOG) to attach the personnel in the freshly-devised units.
The existing cybercrime police stations in Sambalpur, Berhampur and Rourkela have now been renamed as cybercrime and economic offences (CCEO) police stations and they are part of the 14 new establishments. The police stations which were earlier under the jurisdiction of the state Crime Branch will now remain under the administrative control of the respective district superintendents of police (SPs) like the 11 others.
The Home department recently sanctioned posts of 14 inspectors, 28 sub-inspectors, as many assistant sub-inspectors (communication) and constables (communication) and 56 constables for the 14 CCEO police stations in Bhubaneswar Urban Police District, Cuttack UPD, Keonjhar, Sambalpur, Berhampur, Rourkela, Angul, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Puri, Koraput, Kalahandi, Balangir and Kandhamal.
In order to appoint officers and personnel to the CCEO police stations, four inspector rank posts out of 14 sanctioned for SOG were abolished. Similarly, six inspector posts in Sambalpur, Berhampur and Rourkela cybercrime police stations along with four out of eight sanctioned posts for inspector in police motor transport wing have been abolished.
All the 12 posts of sub-inspectors, six assistant sub-inspectors (communication) and nine constables (communication) of cybercrime police stations in Sambalpur, Berhampur and Rourkela have also been abolished. Similarly, 16 posts of sub-inspectors out of 50, 22 posts of ASI (communication) out of 44 and 43 of constables (communication) out of 51 have been abolished in police motor transport.
Out of 771 posts of constables (communication) in 1st OSAP Special Security Battalion in Sambalpur, 32 have been abolished and these posts will be attached to the 14 CCEO police stations across the state.
Analysts point out that such realignment of manpower will be of little help to the state Police which is reeling under severe manpower crunch at key middle rung. The state Police Headquarters has been busy making cosmetic changes instead of addressing the crisis of vacancies.
However, a senior police officer said the state government will appoint officers and personnel for 14 new Cyber Crime and Economic Offences police stations by abolishing mostly vacant posts in four different organisations. Apart from the 154 officers and personnel, a total of 84 financial analysts, IT and cyber forensics experts will be engaged in the new establishments on an outsourcing basis.
Two financial analysts, IT and forensics experts will also be engaged through the same outsourcing agency in the existing cybercrime police station of CID-CB in Cuttack. Scrapping of posts in the four establishments will not affect their functioning as they have adequate manpower, the senior police officer further said.
‘Environment protection individual responsibility’
BHUBANESWAR: Terming environmental degradation a great concern for human existence, Minister for Industries and MSME Dibya Sankar Mishra said environment protection is not just corporate social responsibility, it is individual social responsibility. Addressing the e-conference on air pollution and industry organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (Odisha state council), he said humans are responsible for many environmental issues and urged everybody to work collectively to save the earth.