Mumbai’s suburban railway system carries about 6.8 million passengers every day. But the Government Railway Police (GRP) has only one officer for every 2,000 passengers, as revealed in an RTI request filed by the Mumbai Rail Pravasi Sangh.
The data shows that the GRP has more than 750 vacant posts. This includes both officers and lower-rank police staff. This has raised serious concerns about the safety of commuters since the GRP is responsible for handling all crimes on railway property.
There are 4,185 approved police posts in total for both Central and Western railway zones. But 693 of these are vacant. Most of the vacant posts are in lower levels, such as constables, assistant sub-inspectors, and drivers.
The RTI data shows a 16% gap in total police staffing. For officer-level posts, the shortage is 25%. There are 255 approved officer posts, but only 190 are filled. Of the 190 officers, 173 are men and only 17 are women. This means 65 officer posts are vacant.
The vacant posts include:
* 40 sub-inspectors
* 17 assistant police inspectors
* 8 police inspectors.
Due to this shortage, the prevention of crime is affected. There are many reports of harassment and molestation during rush hours. These incidents are common at stations like Nalasopara, Kalyan, Thane, Kurla, and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT).
The lack of staff makes it hard to respond quickly or stop such crimes. As per reports, GRP has failed to fill these posts for over ten years.
The GRP works in two main zones. The Western Zone covers Bandra to Vasai and has 23 police stations. The Central Zone covers CSMT to Kalyan and has 15 police stations. These are supported by 37 non-executive units. These include the commando team, women’s cell, riot control, court cell, control room, and technical branches. All of them also suffer from a staff shortage.