HYDERABAD: Telangana has been ranked a lowly 11 among 18 large and mid-sized States from the country, in a first-of-its kind ‘India Justice Report’ released by the Tata Trusts which looks into 78 parameters under what the report calls four pillars of justice delivery system — police, prisons, judiciary and legal aid.
According to the report, while the State is ranked 11 in the police and judiciary categories, it is ranked 13 in judiciary, whereas it has earned good rank in legal aid, where it is ranked fourth. The ranking, however, needs to be taken with a pinch of salt as the data on which it is based is from 2016 and 2017. There have been some reforms in the State since then in recruitment of police personnel, but, it is still an eye-opener, as the ranking brings out major drawbacks in justice delivery system of State.
Police
One of the most glaring aspects of the ranking is Telangana State’s poor utilisation of funds provided by the Centre for modernisation of the police force through new buildings, technology and better equipment in the year 2016-17. According to the ranking, Telangana’s utilisation was a meagre 7 per cent of the allotted funds, which was the lowest among all the states in the country.
Another shocking aspect of the ranking is the share of women in the police force (as on January 2017) which was just 2.5 per cent among the lower ranks and a meagre 1.5 per cent in the officer-level cadre, both the figures being lowest among the 18 States.
Prisons
In the prison system, the report highlights the poor spending on prisoners. According to the report, Telangana had spent `22,512 per prison inmate in 2016-17, which was the fourth lowest among 18 States. In Madhya Pradesh, it was `41,409. The prisons also had a 32 per cent deficit in medical staff, which was the tenth highest.
Judiciary
The report highlights Telangana as having the highest share of women judges in the subordinate courts at 44 per cent, which is highest among the States. The vacancy in the subordinate courts was 13.6 per cent.
Legal aid
Although the disposal rate of cases by the Lok Adalats in the State was just 15.6 per cent, it was the third highest among 18 States. Lok Adalats help reduce burden on courts as they deal with conciliation and pre-litigation cases. However, the 68 per cent utilisation of National Legal Services Authority funds in the State was one of the lowest.