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Police reform and modernisation

The funding, equipment and oversight of the police, and the court orders that push reform.

Asked before

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See all: Prelims 1 · Prelims 2 · Mains 1 · Mains 2

Police modernisation: a ₹24,000 crore mission proposed, and the CCTV case

Copy link to Police modernisation: a ₹24,000 crore mission proposed, and the CCTV case

StandardPrelims and Mains30 Sep 2026

What it is

  • Police is a State subject, and the Centre's lever is money. The umbrella scheme for the Modernisation of Police Forces, a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, funds State police and the central armed police forces; its sub scheme, Assistance to States and Union Territories for Modernisation of Police (ASUMP), pays for weapons, communications, forensics and infrastructure.
  • In Paramvir Singh Saini v. Baljit Singh (2020) the Supreme Court ordered audio and video CCTV in every police station and investigating agency, footage kept for at least eighteen months, and oversight committees at State and district level. In 2025 the Court took up, on its own motion, a report of non functional cameras at police stations in Udaipur, and has been checking compliance since.

What happened

  • In an affidavit of 31 August 2026, the Centre told the Court it was preparing a Police Modernisation Mission with a proposed outlay of ₹24,000 crore over five years, at an initial stage, with administrative and financial approval being sought. The Mission would carry provisions for CCTV, but component details were not ready.
  • The Court told the Centre not to let existing ASUMP money lie idle while the new scheme was drafted: as of 1 August, ₹450 crore was available under the sub scheme and only half of it used, while most States had either sent no CCTV proposal or sent one that did not meet the Bureau of Police Research and Development's standards. Jharkhand was said to have had no working camera since 2020.

Why it matters

  • A modernisation scheme measured in crores sits beside a Court order that most States have not met in six years. The gap is not money, since ASUMP funds were lying unused, but priority, which is why the Court is doing the follow up that the scheme's own monitoring should.
  • The Prakash Singh directions of 2006 on police reform, on tenure, separation of investigation from law and order, and complaints authorities, are untouched by any of this; a modernisation mission buys equipment, not reform.

Exam lens

  • Prelims: police is a State subject; the Modernisation of Police Forces scheme and ASUMP; Paramvir Singh Saini (2020) on CCTV; the Bureau of Police Research and Development sets standards.
  • Mains: why court supervised compliance has replaced administrative monitoring in police reform.

Asked before: Mains 2026 GS4

Show the questions
  1. Mains 2026 GS4: Ravi is a senior police officer with vast experience in riot control and cyber-policing. Since one year, he has been the Superintendent of Police (SP) of a district with a history of frequent rioting. Last year, Ravi had sought installation of an AI enabled software for predictive policing. This system has been operational for approximately six months. This new system employs advanced algorithms for capturing the biometric data of persons in a crowd and swiftly relating it to a data library. This has enabled the police to identify the persons involved in various crimes. The system has identified an immigrant and low-income neighbourhood as a centre for gang violence and drug trafficking. Aided by this AI analysis, the local police has focused its patrolling, preventive detentions and establishing checkposts. Consequently, public order and law enforcement has visibly improved. Last week, some community leaders, civil rights lawyers and human rights activists visited Ravi's office. They submitted a memorandum that the new system is faulty as it is based on incorrect historical data caused by social biases and discriminatory policing. The memorandum also alleges that the increased surveillance has created a climate of tension amongst residents. This feeling is aggravated by the fact that the residents are not aware of the data noted against their names. (a) What are the ethical issues including biases involved in the use of AI in data-driven policing? (b) Place yourself in Ravi's role and discuss the alternatives available. Justify the action that optimises compliance with ethics.

Cases to cite

  • Prakash Singh v. Union of India (2006): the seven directions on police reform.
  • Paramvir Singh Saini v. Baljit Singh (2020): CCTV in police stations, eighteen months' footage, oversight committees.
  • In re: Lack of Functional CCTVs in Police Stations (SMW(C) 7 of 2025): the suo motu compliance case.
Sources
  • LiveLaw, 4 September 2026, “CCTVs in police stations: don't let existing funds lie dormant citing pending modernization scheme, Supreme Court to Centre”
  • The Hindu, 4 September 2026, “Govt. to spend ₹24,000 crore to modernise police force”

Settled facts (dates of Acts, constitutional provisions, standing definitions) are from standard references.

Also filed elsewhere

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