Patna, Jan. 5: The proposal of the state police headquarters to increase the security of the legislators after the murder of Purnea MLA Rajkishore Keshari in his house in the presence of a number of people yesterday would strain the already-understaffed police force.

Also, most legislators demand the best men for their personal security. This leaves a handful to manage the security of the commoner.

“This is a fact. Most legislators would like to have the best as their personal bodyguards. The old and the weak are left to handle the law and order,” said a source.

A source said the police force was already deploying 10,000 personnel, out of a total strength of 50,000, for the security of the legislators, bureaucrats and other government officials. An additional demand would seriously affect the efficiency of the men-in-uniform and have repercussions on the policing in the state.

The state has 245 MLAs and 75 MLCs.

At present, each of them has two security guards. If one more person is added to the security entourage for the MLAs, total 960 cops would be on duty to guard them.

K.K. Jha, the general secretary of Bihar Police Association, told The Telegraph additional security guards to MLAs would seriously affect the efficiency of the force.

“There is not much we can say about this. But it will definitely have a serious effect on policing. There is already a dearth of men in the force. A further subtraction will cause a serious strain on the force,” said Jha.

Jha added: “There are no fixed hours for police duty. The men who will not be deployed to guards the VIPs will have to put in extra hours to get the work done. This would affect their efficiency.”

P.K. Thakur, the additional director-general of police, headquarters, told The Telegraph that the proposal to increase the security of the legislators had been forwarded to the state government. The police department is waiting for its approval.

Incidentally, a recent proposal to hire 45,000 constables is also waiting the nod of the state home department.

Thakur said the move to recruit 45,000 more constables in the force had not been approved till now.

“The proposal was moved by the state police headquarters. It is with the state government at present. We have finished the formalities on our side,” said Thakur.

He added: “There is also a cost factor involved when it comes to recruiting. The state government is going to approve it soon.”

The security of ministers is beefed up or lessened on the basis of threat perception. The special branch of the police takes the decision each month.

“Some of them have more security. Others have less. It is on the basis of intelligence reports,” said Jha.

He added there was no real threat to any minister at present.

There is yet another side to this: most ministers choose the best and the bravest for personal security, said a source. Others are left to take care of the law and order situation and protect the people.