Govt Railway Police in Karnataka woefully understaffed, claims official

Bengaluru: The Government Railway Police in Karnataka is still functioning with the staff strength of 800 personnel that was sanctioned in 1982, a senior GRP official said on Tuesday.

“We are still operating with 800 personnel across Karnataka, which was sanctioned in 1982 when the daily passengers load was only 50,000 compared to two lakh today whereas we require not less than 2,000 personnel,” the officer said requesting anonymity.

“Many new districts and stations came up in these 40 years. The pattern of crime has also changed all these years but our staff strength remains the same,” the officer added.

According to him, GRP salaries are borne equally by the state government and the central government.

The state government wants to increase the strength of GRP but the Railways is grappling with many other pan-India problems; so nothing concrete is coming out, the officer claimed.

“There are handful of airports in the state and the passengers who fly is way too less than the train but 1,300 policemen are allocated for this security,” the officer explained.

This is despite the fact that CISF takes care of security at airports, he said.

He added that the policemen deployed in the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation bus stands are more than the GRP.

The Railway Protection Force (RPF) has a different mandate, according to the officer.

He explained that the RPF is meant to protect railway property, while law and order and crime in railway stations and on trains come under the purview of GRP.