CAG raps UP govt over rise in crimes against women
GRIM NUMBERS Rapes and assaults up; police manpower per 1 lakh population in the state among the lowest in the country
LUCKNOW: Nearly 60% of the rape survivors in Uttar Pradesh since 2010 were minors, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said on Tuesday in a report highly critical of the state government’s failure to curb crime against women.
The report for the years 20102015 was placed in the state assembly, barely a few weeks after a Noida-based woman and her minor daughter were gang raped by highway robbers near Bulandshahr.
Separately, the UP government also told the assembly on Tuesday that in the past five months, 1,012 rape cases were registered in the state.
The data is likely to provide fresh ammunition to the opposition to target the Akhilesh Yadav government over the state’s law and order in the run up to the assembly polls early next year.
The BJP was quick to respond, announcing an agitation in Lucknow on Wednesday to highlight the issue.
“The CAG report vindicates whatever we have been saying so far against this government. It’s a failure on law and order and in checking crime against women. It’s time that this government demited office,” state BJP general secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak said. The government, however, said it had taken “steps to check crime against women”.
“The state government has launched recruitment drive to fill up the vacant posts in the police force. The population of UP is much higher than other states, it reflects on police-population ratio as well,” a government spokesperson said in response to the CAG’s criticism of the government for failing to fill up vacancies in police.
The report said incidents of crime against women increased consistently in the last five years and were much UP current strength required strength
higher than the all-India average.
There was a 61% increase in incidents of crime against women between 2010-11 and 2014-15, the report said, adding that 59% of the rape survivors were minors.
The districts with highest number of rape cases in 2010-15 were Aligarh (392), Moradabad (377), Allahabad (348), Meerut (346), Agra and Lucknow (328 each). 1,582 2,945
2,989 national average 7,972 5,145 8,964 required strength
The CAG report — on performance audit on empowerment of women-2015 —said that despite a high incidence of crime, the state government has not taken effective steps to significantly strengthen its police force.
The actual police manpower per one lakh population in the state was among the lowest in the country, it added. The CAG found the state had deployed 1,62,783 police personnel to protect 19.98 crore population.