The Telangana government will fill all existing vacancies in the Police Department by 2028 and has begun steps to recruit another 5,000 personnel, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy said on Wednesday at a Police Commemoration Day event in Hyderabad.
Addressing the Police Commemoration Day parade at the Police Martyrs’ Memorial in Goshamahal Police Stadium, Mr. Reddy said maintaining law and order was essential for the State’s development and that the government had accorded the highest priority to strengthening the Police Department.
The Chief Minister said the government had already appointed 112 Deputy Superintendents of Police, describing the recruitment as unprecedented, and had initiated steps to fill another 5,000 vacancies. The announcement did not specify the department’s total sanctioned strength, the number of existing vacancies or a detailed recruitment timetable.
Mr. Reddy also announced higher ex-gratia payments for police personnel and Home Guards who die in the line of duty. Compensation for Home Guards will rise from ₹5 lakh to ₹10 lakh. For constables, the ex-gratia has been increased from ₹40 lakh to ₹1 crore, while the amount for Head Constables and Assistant Sub-Inspectors has risen from ₹45 lakh to ₹1 crore.
The compensation for Sub-Inspectors will increase from ₹45 lakh to ₹1.25 crore, and for Inspectors from ₹50 lakh to ₹1.25 crore. Families of Deputy Superintendents of Police and Additional Superintendents of Police will receive ₹1.50 crore, compared with the earlier ₹50 lakh. For Superintendents of Police and Indian Police Service officers, the compensation has been doubled from ₹1 crore to ₹2 crore.
Paying tribute to personnel who died in the line of duty, the Chief Minister said 154 police personnel had died across India during the year. He also remembered Telangana Assistant Sub-Inspector D. Devi Singh, constables Empalli Pramod Kumar and Seelam Kamalakar, and Gajula Soumya of the Excise Department.
Mr. Reddy said the State was working to modernise the Police Department and equip personnel with advanced technology to respond to emerging challenges. He cautioned, however, that technological advancement should not come at the cost of the humane approach expected of police officers.
Director-General of Police C. V. Anand said policing priorities now included cybercrime, narcotics trafficking, food adulteration, road accidents and organised crime. He said personnel would need to continuously upgrade their skills as criminals increasingly used sophisticated methods and technology, while also maintaining a strong presence on the ground.
The Chief Minister also referred to the appointment of transgender persons as traffic assistants, saying the initiative had helped strengthen their dignity and self-respect. He said ensuring women’s safety was not the responsibility of the police alone and called for wider social participation in preventing crimes against women.
The government’s next stated milestones are the recruitment of 5,000 additional personnel and completion of the process to fill all existing Police Department vacancies by 2028.
