When we think of security provided to individuals, we envision the security provided to the Prime Minister, Ministers, and Top Leadership of the political parties, etc. But security is provided to a lot more people than you expect. There are different layers of securities being provided to different personalities based on what is decided by the home ministry. But there are different agencies such as CISF, NSG, and state police that are responsible for protecting these VIPs.
Recently, the BPRD released its annual report on Indian police. The report has a host of stats relating to the police department like the strength, composition, etc. One stat that the report provides is the number of VIPs that are provided protection and the no. of security personnel that were deployed to protect these VIPs. The numbers are broken down by states. The Indian Express released an article last week claiming that relatively stable states such as Delhi, Bengal, and Bihar had more no. of VIP’s put in protection, whereas the states which have had insurgencies—Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Manipur, and Chhattisgarh—had less no. of VIP’s under protection. In this article, we analyze the data set relating to the protection given to the VIPs using various metrics.
Overall Analysis
The analysis is done for 4 years (2016-2019). We are mainly concerned with two fields here.
The number of persons that were granted protection. This includes ministers, MP’s, MLA’s, Judges, bureaucrats, etc * ( who are referred to as Vip’s in this article).
The number of personnel deployed to protect them.
Bengal has the highest no. of VIPs granted security in 2019, and Delhi had the highest no. of personnel allotted to it. Odisha and Andaman & Nicobar Islands had the least VIP’S and personnel, respectively.
Bihar, Punjab, and West Bengal have consistently had a high share in the no. of the personnel deployed and VIP’s
Delhi has the highest no. of personnel/ VIP’s at ~ 16, closely followed by UP. In contrast, in Odisha, there is just one personnel per Vip.
Even though Bihar has a high number of VIPs, its ratio of VIPs to its population is lower than the national average. Delhi has a very high ratio; Tamil Nadu and Odisha are at the bottom.
UP has seen a high CAGR over the past four years of the police personnel/VIP ratio; it has seen a decrease in the no. of personnel but an even more decrease in the VIP’s; Maharashtra has seen the opposite.
States having faced violent extremism or insurgency
Using the NCRB data of 2019, I identified the states the 10 states that had the most no. of crimes filed under “Crime Committed by Anti National Elements”*. These are the crimes that are most likely to target a VIP than an average person (apart from political crimes).
The group of 10 states showed an increase in the no. of the personnel deployed that were like those of the other states, but the decrease in the number of VIP’s in these states was more than in other states for the period 2016-2019
However, the trend was not uniform. Maharashtra & Assam saw increases in the no. of the personnel deployed; Jammu and Kashmir saw the opposite. There was an increase in the personnel in Manipur and VIP in Jharkhand.
*You can find the link to the reporthere** Definition as perNCRB report. The total is the sum of Northeast insurgents, Naxalites/SWE's and Terrorist Crimes for the year 2019
Cover Image credit: By Prime Minister's Office (GODL-India), GODL-India, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72567037