West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday, 10 October pledged to significantly improve the state's police-to-public ratio, citing Uttar Pradesh's benchmark of 200 officers per lakh residents as the target his government intends to match. The vow came during the inauguration of the West Bengal Police's Emergency Response Service System-112 at Brigade Parade Ground in central Kolkata.

Where Bengal Stands Today

Adhikari noted that the police-to-public ratio in West Bengal had already improved from 105 officers per lakh residents under the previous dispensation to the current 155. He attributed the earlier shortfall to what he described as a flawed Other Backward Class (OBC) recruitment policy under the former ruling party, which he said stalled police hiring midway.

"During the previous regime in the state, the ratio was 105 cops for every one lakh people. This was because recruitments in the police department were stuck midway because of the flawed OBC policy of the previous ruling dispensation. Now we have corrected those flaws, and fresh recruitment has already been done, and more will be done in the coming days," Adhikari said.

The UP Benchmark and the Manpower Question

Pointing to Uttar Pradesh, where the ratio stands at 200 under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Adhikari framed adequate manpower as a prerequisite for effective law enforcement. "How will the police in West Bengal combat crime and provide safety to people if the department does not have adequate manpower?" he asked.

This comes amid broader concerns about policing capacity in densely populated Indian states, where the national average for police deployment remains well below global standards, according to data from earlier government reviews.

Zero-Tolerance on Attacks Against Police

The Chief Minister also reiterated a firm stance against violence targeting security personnel and public infrastructure. Referring to recent stone-pelting incidents on police and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel at Park Circus, in which several security personnel were reportedly injured, Adhikari issued a public warning.

"On that day, I said on camera that if in the future there are similar attacks on policemen, I will be a bad police minister," he stated. He further noted that those responsible for vandalism at a police outpost in Asansol had already faced action, including financial recovery. "Today, I remind you of the zero-tolerance approach on this issue," he added.

Criticism of the Previous TMC Government

Adhikari levelled pointed criticism at the earlier Trinamool Congress (TMC) government led by Mamata Banerjee, accusing it of keeping the police force inactive and curtailing its operational freedom. "I know that the police forces in West Bengal are extremely capable. But they will have to be given the freedom to operate freely to prevent crime," he said.

Notably, the launch of the 112 Emergency Response Service System is positioned as a structural step toward modernising policing infrastructure — reflecting a pattern seen across several BJP-governed states that have sought to expand emergency response frameworks in recent years.

What Comes Next

The Chief Minister indicated that police recruitment drives will continue in the coming months. Whether Bengal can close the gap with Uttar Pradesh's ratio of 200 will depend on the pace of fresh appointments and the resolution of any pending legal challenges to the OBC recruitment corrections already undertaken.