Chandigarh, Dec 31: Even as police stations across Punjab struggle with acute staff shortages, security convoys accompanying political leaders continue to expand, creating a growing imbalance in the state’s policing system.
According to senior officials, Punjab Police has not seen adequate fresh recruitment for several years, resulting in thousands of vacant posts. The shortage has affected routine policing, with officers juggling investigations, law and order and crime prevention duties.
“In some districts, police stations are operating with barely half their sanctioned strength,” a senior police official said. “Yet the demand for personal security duties has not gone down.”
Security cover granted to ministers, MLAs and influential individuals during earlier regimes largely remains in place. In several cases, officials say, guards continue to be deployed even without a specific or current threat assessment.
This has led to situations where understaffed police stations struggle to function while armed guards escort leaders through low-risk areas. Officers say such deployments have reduced police visibility in sensitive locations and slowed responses to emergency calls.
“When manpower is limited, every deployment matters,” the official said. “Each guard assigned to a convoy is one less officer available for public duty.”
After coming to power in 2022, the Aam Aadmi Party government had pledged to curb excessive security and redeploy personnel to police stations. While some withdrawals were ordered, police sources say the process has moved slowly on the ground.
Currently, several political leaders continue to move with two or three security personnel, often more for status than security, officers allege.
A senior district officer said a comprehensive review of security arrangements is underway. “We are reassessing all security covers and will withdraw protection where it is not justified,” the officer said. “The redeployed staff will be sent back to police stations and field duties.”
Police insiders warn that tackling organised crime networks and hardened criminals will remain difficult unless recruitment is fast-tracked alongside strict enforcement of security rationalisation.
“The choice is simple,” one officer said. “Either police resources guard the powerful, or they protect the public.”
