Jammu & Kashmir has spent a little over five percent of its annual budget on police. An official report in possession of wire service—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), reveals that state government earmarked 6.96 percent and 5.87 percent of funds in the budget for police respectively in 2016-17 and 2017-18.These details have been revealed in the report titled” Data on Police Organisations”, which was prepared by the Bureau of Police Research and Development. The BPRD comes under the administrative control of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. The report contains details about expenditure of state/UT police forces and modernization grants provided by the Centre for strengthening state forces.According to the report, Rs 4293 crore were earmarked for State police in Rs 61680 crore budget for 2016 -17. Similarly, out of Rs 76635 crore, Rs 4478. 76 crore were kept for police in J&K’s annual budget of 2017-18.The report also reveals that Rs 59.55 crore modernization grants were provided to Jammu & Kashmir police in 2017-18. The modernization grants, allocated by MHA, are utilized for upgrading the infrastructure of the state police forces in order to improve their capabilities to meet the emerging challenges to internal security in the form of militancy, extremism, naxalism etc.The scheme focuses on strengthening of the police infrastructure by construction of secure and people- friendly police stations, police posts, police housing, improved mobility, computerization, modern weaponry, communication equipment and traffic control equipment.As per KNO, the present strength of Jammu and Kashmir police is more than 80000, excluding 30000 Specail Police Officers (SPOs). The State police came into existence in 1873 with appointment of one Police officer Known as Kotwal and 14 Thanedars for Srinagar City. This nuclear force would control crime and take care of Law and order situations with help of Chowkidars”, who were paid by the population out of their annual agricultural produce on a voluntary basis.Since then the Police in J&K has undergone several re-organizations, The strength of Police in J&K in the year 1889-90 was just 1040, which further rose to 1570 in the year 1903 and forty years later, in 1943-44, the strength of J&K Police was 3179. Its present strength is more than 83000. (KNO)