All the activities of Tripura Police are going on recently with one fourth of the required officers and constables. According to a 2000 estimate by the Union Home Ministry, Tripura Police should have 12,375 officers and constables. But there are only 4352 people deployed now.

This number is supposed to be 30,000 proportional to the current population and police force ratio. But since long there is no new recruitment in Tripura police department for officers or constable post for many years.

Therefore, due to the lack of necessary officers and constables, the Tripura police have been in a bad situation for the past several years in coping with crimes and in investigation work. From drug trafficking, human trafficking, various cross-border crimes to contract negotiation trade-the number of police is very small compared to what is required to prevent these crimes across Tripura.

But the problem is that even though the state chief minister, home secretary, chief secretary and director general of police are all aware of the problem of insufficient personnel of Tripura police, it is not being addressed for some unknown reason.

Due to that Tripura Police is today a victim of infamy and failure due to the abnormal manpower shortage situation. From investigating officers to constables, every policeman has to do double shift duty day after day. As a result, many police officers and constables have become physically weak and sick. On an average, one and a half to two percent of police personnel are on sick leave and medical emergency annually.

It is known that according to the 2000 vacancy calculation, Tripura Police should have at least eight officers of the rank of DIG. But currently there are only three. There are supposed to be seven officers of IGP rank. But currently there are only three.

Among them, an IPS officer named Saumitra Dhar has already applied for voluntary retirement. And an IPS officer named L Darlong will retire soon. A surprising fact in this regard is that although there is a system of re-employment of many IAS or IFS officers in the general administration before retirement, IPS officers are not being re-employed in the police department. At least 10 skilled IPS officers have retired in the last 4/5 years. But none but two were re-engaged only.

It is known that according to the 2000 vacancy calculation, the number of DSP (Dy.SP) vacancies in Tripura Police is 265. But currently there are only 83 DSPs. SI/ASI vacancies are 1526. But in this case there are only 914 people in place. Head Constable/Nayak (HC/Nk) Vacancy is 1420.

But currently there are only 795 people in the department. The number of constable vacancies is 9149. But in this case there are only 2554 persons in the department. The calculation of these vacancies is based on the proportional rate of the state population and police personnel in 2000 by the Union Home Ministry.

In other words, even half of the number of police personnel that were vacant 24 years ago are not available in this state today. If the number of police personnel in Tripura is calculated proportionally to the current population, then today there should be at least 30 thousand police officers and jawans in the force of Tripura Police.

But there are only 4352. But even if we calculate according to the number of vacancies sanctioned in 2000, today Tripura Police should have 12375 officers and constables vacancies. But Tripura Police is functioning today with one-fourth officers and constables of the sanctioned vacancies of 2000.

In this regard, it is worth mentioning that after 2000, the number of police stations and police outposts has doubled across Tripura in view of the increase in population. According to a source from the state police headquarters, the number of police stations and police outposts in Tripura was 48 in 2000.

Which has increased to 125, where the number of police stations is 91 today. But compared to that, the number of police officers and constables has decreased manifold instead of increasing. But during this period the population of Tripura and the number of police personnel at a proportional rate were supposed to increase several times.

But surprisingly it has decreased several times instead of increasing and today there are only 4352 officers and general police personnel and constables in Tripura Police. It is reported that surprisingly, a major part of the lower level police personnel is used for the personal security of former ministers, judges, MLAs, chairmen of various corporations and executive members of ADC in the houses of ruling party leaders, ministers, and officer bureaucrats.

However, police camps have been closed at many places in sensitive areas due to shortage of police personnel. The ‘number of sources’ and ‘source money’ working in the intelligence wing of the police are not what they used to be. No increase in number of Home Guard, Border Wing or SPOs. Even after conducting interviews for recruitment of Special Police Executives, they are not being appointed till now on the pretext of money.

In this situation, most of the jawans of the 13 battalions of TSR including Special Police Officers (SPOs), Home Guards are now posted at various police stations and outpost, although TSR jawans are not supposed to be on police station duty or work like ordinary police personnel.

But as the budget of the police department is not able to pay all the police officers and staff for the year, at least three forces of TSR have been outsourced to ONGC (ONGC) and outside the state duty. More worrying is the lack of requisite number of inspectors and sub-inspectors that ASIs are being allowed to investigate important cases these days.

Not only this, due to the lack of new recruitment for a long time, the routine training of all police constables been very less for many years. In a word, Tripura police officers are not properly trained to deal with new crimes including drug cases, cyber crimes and financial fraud cases. All police personnel have not yet been trained on the three new criminal laws yet.

It is also a major problem that police has to face elections one after another. Under the prevailing circumstances, the intelligence and quality of the security forces from officers to constables of Tripura Police is gradually declining. Officer Constables of the police department that once gained fame across the country for fighting extremists and received the Police Colors of the President are now victims of various infamies.

Investigation of many cases is hampered due to shortage of investigating officers. The charge sheet cannot be submitted to the court on time. As a result, accused of many murder cases, financial fraud and drug cases are getting released from jail. The rate of punishment is also decreasing.

Sl number	Rank	Sanctioned              Vacancies (year 2000)	Manpower                 Posted (Year 2024)
1	IGP	7	3
2	DIG	8	3
3	DSP	265	83
4	SI/ASI	1526	914
5	HC/NK	1420	795
6	Constable	9149	2554
7	Total	12375	4352