Arrested development: States are hardly spending on modernising police

They allot little money from their own budgets and underutilise the money the centre gives them

State police forces used just 6 per cent of the Rs 620 crore the central government allotted them for modernisation in Financial Year 2022-23 (FY23), data shows.

It is not that the states are making up for the shortfall in utilisation of the central funds with their own finances. Data shows that the money the states spend from their budgets on the police is abysmal.

Compared to the states, the seven Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) of the federal government get enough money for modernisation (Table 1). The budget for CAPF – the Central Reserve Police Force, the Central Industrial