60 per cent increase in sanctioned strength; 1,200 men to join force by Oct 2010

The Chandigarh Police will be able to deliver a better law enforcement system to City Beautiful by October next year when its existing strength will increase by 30 per cent. Over 1,200 young policemen will join the existing fleet of 4,117 policemen after the completion of their training.

The city has 13 deputy superintendents of police, 59 inspectors, 259 sub-inspectors, 172 assistant sub-inspectors, 973 head constables and 2,641 constables posted in the UT police as against the previously sanctioned staff strength of 4,200. Concerned over the stress and heavy workload, the sanctioned strength has now been increased to 6,791.

According to the new sanctioned strength, there will be an addition of over 2,500 constables in the UT police in the next few years. The revised sanctioned strength of the Chandigarh Police, shows an increase of over 60 per cent of the existing number.

The overall sanctioned strength of the police was increased after senior officers felt that the workload on the existing number of policemen was getting too much to handle.

Following a favourable response by the Ministry of Home Affairs to the proposal, the sanctioned strength was increased to 6,791. The UT police have already started the process to induct more constables in its fleet.

It will have 675 constables of the India Reserve Battalion (IRB) who are presently undergoing one-year training till October 2010. In addition, interviews were recently conducted for recruiting 600 constables who are expected to join the Chandigarh Police next year after their training period.

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