Fund, staff crunch mar horse-mounted police unit in HP
SHIMLA: The 100-year-old horsemounted unit of Himachal Pradesh Police is struggling to live up to its pristine glory. The units are facing shortage of fodder and proper care.
In absence of care takers and riders, the horses are confined to stables across the state. There is dearth of fodder for horses stationed at different units in Shimla, Mandi and other districts. The units in the state were raised during the British time and horses were used by police officers to visit places in hilly terrains that were inaccessible.
These units were also used for controlling crowds at times of social gathering and protests. In capital town, mounted police units were used during Vidhan Sabha sessions.
The horse mounted- units are stationed at Police lines in Bharari, 3km from Shimla.
Horses stationed at Shimla are just confined to their stables and are not being used for the last one year. Police officials said that the department is facing acute shortage of the staff to look after the horses.
“Horses rarely see the sunlight and most of the time they are just confined to the small dingy rooms at Bharari. There are no proper stable for them” said a police official requesting anonymity.”
“The mounted horse-unit in Shimla had four horses, of which one has now been sent to the police lines in Nahan. Police are now planning to send the rest three horses toMandi.” “Horses have grown older and developed arthritis,” he said.
Himachal Pradesh had a total of 17 horses, which were stationed at different locations. But due to shortage of staff and funds police over years stopped purchasing horses for its mounted squads, said the police official.
Himachal Police few years back mooted a proposal to disband the mounted police but later dropped it maintaining that the horses were being used on ceremonial days such as Republic Day parade and during the Himachal Day celebrations. Police sanctioned total 34 posts in various categories, including inspectors, assistant inspectors, head constables, constables and care takers but all are lying vacant.
The police headquarters have now asked the government to provide more funds to purchase horses and allow it to fill up the vacant posts. Inspector general of police Himanshu Mishra said, “We are moving a proposal for filling up vacancies.”