BHUBANESWAR: Odisha has improved its rank in policing by securing the third place among 18 states in the country, according to the India Justice Report 2020 released on Thursday. In 2019, it was placed seventh in the rankings.
However, when it comes to composite ranking that takes into consideration the four indicators of judiciary, police, prisons and legal aid, the State’s rank slipped to 11 from last year’s seven. It stood ninth in prisons, eighth in legal aid and secured 15th position in judiciary this year.
The report further stated that in composite ranking, Odisha scored 4.9 out of 10 points. Individually, it scored 5.59 in police, 4.67 in prisons, 3.91 in judiciary and 5.64 in legal aid. Pointing to the vacancies in the police department, the report said six per cent (pc) of constable posts are vacant while it is 29 pc in officer posts, 45 pc in prison officers and nine pc in cadre staff.
There is a whopping 46 pc vacancy in the post of the Orissa High Court judges and 20 pc in sub-ordinate court judges. Similarly, there is 31 pc vacancy in the High Court staff positions. Though the share of women’s representation in police, prisons and legal aid has improved in the State, it remained unchanged as far as High Court judge positions are concerned.
Women’s representation among all ranks in Odisha Police stands at 10 pc and it is 11.2 pc in officers rank, 12.3 pc overall in the prisons department, 6.3 pc in High Court judges, 40.2 pc in subordinate court judges, 13.7 pc in panel lawyers and 46.7 pc in para legal volunteers.
The India Justice Report is an initiative of Tata Trusts in collaboration with the Centre for Social Justice, Common Cause, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, DAKSH, Prayas,Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy and How India Lives.