Under fire over the law and order situation in the state, Uttar Pradesh’s home department has issued its reading of the latest statistics of the National Crimes Records Bureau (NCRB).
As per the note issued by the home department, a better understanding of the status of crime in states and union territories (UTs) is to look at crime rates and not absolute figures. As defined by the NCRB, Crime Rate = Number of Cases Reported / Population in Lakhs.
While UP accounted for 10.92 per cent of the total crimes registered in the country as per the NCRB’s 2018 report, it is also home to 16.85 per cent of the country’s population.
Read thus, the note lists nine heinous crimes and the state’s standing, as compared to other states and UTs, on these. For instance under the category of loot, the state figures 31 among the 28 states and nine UTs with a rate of only 0.1 of the said crime. While murders (rate 1.8) saw the state at 26th place; attempt to murder (2.2) puts the state at rank 22. On POSCO (6.1) the state stands at 23rd position, while crimes against women (55.7) put the state at 15th position. Calculated thus, the combined rate of these serious crimes was 153.5, and this gave the state an average standing of 24.
The note further explains, “The 31st rank on the crime of loot means that the state is behind 30 states and UTs on the crime”.
The note then moves on to explain that the state has top billing when it comes to dealing with various crimes. For this though, the home department used absolute figures and not the rates. Calculated thus, the state stood first in proving crimes against women, identifying those who committed cyber crimes, capturing of illegal arms, and in taking to task crimes involving fake currency. It stood second on both arresting and proving the crimes under various sections of the Indian Penal Code. Arrest and prosecution under Special Laws put the state at number three while the state was sixth in dealing with those responsible for destruction of property.
“The state is thus far better than other states and UTs in acting against criminals and in prosecuting them,” concludes the note.
An additional note said a fallout of the state’s zero tolerance policy towards crime was that the youths of the state have been abandoning the path of crime and instead applying for police and other services.