Chances of last-resort central forces State's probable shortfall: 15000

OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Calcutta, May 14: The Mamata Banerjee government may have to knock on Delhi's doors for central forces if the pachayat polls are held according to the order a division bench of Calcutta High Court passed today. The division bench of Chief Justice A.K. Mishra and Justice Joymalya Bagchi did not explicitly endorse the poll panel's demand for 800 companies of central forces, but as it gave specific directions on booth-wise force requirements, the state government might have to seek forces from outside Bengal. Estimates drawn up by senior officials suggest that the government needs an additional 100 to 150 companies of forces — between 10,000 and 15,000 personnel — over and above the 45,000-odd state police personnel it can deploy on panchayat poll duty. "We may try to get additional forces from neighbouring states but the total shortfall is unlikely to be met by doing so. We think at least 50 to 60 companies of central forces will be required," said a home department official. He, however, added that the government would make all efforts to use forces from Bengal and other states. Home department officials said the availability of forces from other states would depend on several factors, ranging from compulsions in those states to the number of personnel the Bengal government had sent there for elections or other purposes. "Some of the neighbouring states are plagued by Maoist problems and so, they may not be able to spare too many police personnel," the official said. State election commissioner Mira Pande at the poll panel office in Calcutta on Tuesday According to the official, when meeting calls for forces, other governments usually match numbers received in the past, not more, from the state making the request. Bengal had sent only eight companies of forces to Assam recently. So Assam is unlikely to send more forces than that, the official said. If on average 10 to 20 companies are available from each of the five neighbouring states of Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, Assam and Chhattisgarh, the total number would not be more than 100. "Requesting the Centre to fill the gap will be the last option," the official said. According to him, the Bengal government can spare 70 per cent of the total police strength of the state. "This adds up to 42,000 personnel. We can get 3,000 personnel from Calcutta police. The total figure comes to 45,000," he said. Based on preliminary estimates, it appears that around 1.4 lakh police personnel will be required to cover the highly sensitive and sensitive booths, which comprise around 57 per cent of the total (more than 57,000 booths). The division bench of the high court today suggested two armed personnel and two constables for highly sensitive booths and two armed personnel for sensitive booths. Another 30,000 personnel will be required to cover over 18,000 less sensitive and normal premises, around 44 per cent of the total premises. Around 10,000 personnel will be needed for various jobs relating to troop movements and their accommodation. "If the election is to be spread out over three phases, according to our early calculations, the collective strength of the force required will be close to 60,000 personnel," said a senior officer. Given the total availability of forces in Bengal, the shortfall will be close to 15,000 personnel. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130515/jsp/frontpage/story_16900636.jsp