Drug data gaffe earns state tag of ‘Udta Haryana’

State crime records bureau director flags mistakes

CHANDIGARH: A series of gaffes pertaining to crime statistics recently earned the state the label of ‘Udta Haryana’, putting the BJP-JJP government to embarrassment.

The state government came under fire during the recently concluded assembly session when the National Crime Record Bureau’s (NCRB’s) 2018 report on death of 86 people in Haryana due to ‘drug overdose’ was played up by the opposition MLAs during a calling attention motion.

Since it was higher than the 78 deaths reported in neighbouring Punjab, the opposition MLAs were quick to brand the state as ‘Udta Haryana’.

However, it has now emerged that the data provided by the State Crime Records Bureau (SCRB) to NCRB was factually incorrect, reflecting poorly on the functioning of the state government.

In a March 9 communication to the district police chiefs, police commissioners and top police officials, SCRB director Shrikant Jadhav pointed out a series of faux pas pertaining to supply of crime statistics. “Data pertaining to the deaths due to

drug overdose provided by the district units to SCRB showed 86 deaths in 2018. This issue was raised in the recent assembly session also. During the verification of figures, it emerged that only 29 people died due to drug overdose , while the remaining 57 died of other reasons,” Jadhav wrote.

Quoting another instance, the SCRB director said that as per statistics provided to the bureau, 162 people died in 2018 due to consumption of illicit or spurious liquor.

“During verification, it was found that these people died due to excessive consumption of alcohol, and not due to consumption of spurious liquor,” Jadhav stated. “Due to laxity of the vernacular record keepers and record writers of district units while supplying factually

correct information, the image of the state and police has been tarnished and it would be impossible to undo the damage. Sarkaar ko hashiye par khada kar diya... (The government has been pushed to the margins...),” the communication read.

As per senior police officials, cops handling the FIRs and records often fail to draw a distinction and this can lead to errors in the statistics. “The vernacular record keepers and record writers are junior-rung officials and we cannot expect them to raise a flag,” said an officer. Jadhav has requested the district SPs to look into the crime statistics — particularly those pertaining to sensitive heads like drugs, illicit liquor, crimes against Scheduled Castes and women — before sending them to SCRB.