50 pc of police posts vacant in UP; national average at 24 pc

Vacancy in Uttar Pradesh Police stood at a whopping 50 per cent, more than double the national average of 24 per cent.

The total sanctioned strength of police personnel in all states and Union Territories is 22,80,691, of which 5,49,025 or 24.02 per cent is lying vacant, officials said.

In Uttar Pradesh, there are only 1.81 lakh police personnel working against the sanctioned strength of 3.63 lakhs, to take care of the state's 21 crore population.

The state, which has the highest population and is termed as the "worst state" in India in terms of law and order by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), is facing a shortage of 1.81 lakh personnel, they said.

In 2015, the state had registered 1,239 cases per 1,00,000 population.

Uttar Pradesh was followed by Karnataka, where there is a shortage 35 per cent of the total strength. The sanctioned strength for Karnataka is 1,10,210 personnel and it is facing a shortage of 39,276 police personnel.

Following Karnataka is West Bengal, where around 33 per cent of the posts in civil and armed police forces is lying vacant. The sanctioned police strength for the state is 1,01,482, out of which 33,630 posts are lying vacant, they said.

Among the states and UTs, only Nagaland and Dadra and Nagar Haveli have more number of policemen than the sanctioned strength.