With reference to police in India, the Library of Congress' India: A Country Study writes:

Working conditions and pay are poor, especially in the lower echelons of the police forces. Recruits receive only around Rs. 1,900 per month [approximately $62.32 Cdn]. Opportunities for promotion are limited because of the system of horizontal entry into higher grades. Allegations of bribery, attributable to the low pay and poor working conditions, have been widespread (Sept. 1995).

The central government of India is responsible for recruiting and maintaining the Indian Police Service (IPS) (ibid.). IPS officers are recruited nationwide, trained in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, and then "are assigned to particular state or union territory forces, where they usually remain for the rest of their careers," assuming administrative positions within the police force (ibid.). Information found on the Website of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) indicates that as of 1 November 1999, there were 144 IPS officers serving in Punjab (MHA n.d.). The IPS Civil List 1999, also found on the Website of the MHA, lists a range of salaries of IPS officers from a low of Rs. 8,275 [$271.42Cdn]/month to Rs. 26,000 [$852.80Cdn]/month (MHA 1999). No specific information on the salaries of lower-ranked members of the Punjab State Police could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

There are no specific references to Punjab police demanding bribes for the release of a detainee among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate, although in its Alternative Report to the United Nations Human Rights Committee, July 1997, Khalsa Human Rights claimed that the relative of a detainee was asked to pay 70,000 rupees to a sarpanch (village headman), who was allegedly "an agent of the Deputy Superintendent of Police Sh. Vijay Kumar Sharma." Upon receipt of the payment, the detainee was released (ibid.).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please see below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

India: A Country Study. September 1995. Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, Washington, DC. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/intoc.html [Accessed 17 Oct. 2000]

Khalsa Human Rights. 1997. Alternative Report to the United Nations Human Rights Committee, for their July 1997 Hearing on the Human Rights Record of the Indian Government. http://www.dialspace.dial.pipex.com/town/square/ev90495/altern.htm [Accessed 13 Oct. 2000]

Ministry of Home Affairs, India. N.d. Punjab: Authorized Cadre Strength of the Police Service (As on 01-11-1999). http://mha.nic.in/se2.htm [Accessed 16 Oct. 2000]

_____. 1999. IPS Civil List 1999. http://mha.nic.in/list.htm [Accessed 16 Oct. 2000]

Amnesty International Urgent Appeals. Resource Centre.

India Country File. Resource Centre.

LEXIS/NEXIS

World Encyclopedia of Police Forces and Penal Systems, 1989

World News Connection (WNC)

Unsuccessful attempt to obtain information from 2 non-documentary sources.

Internet Sites including:

Burning Punjab

The Co-ordination Committee on Disappearances in Punjab

Economic and Political Weekly

The Hindu

Human Rights Watch

Immigration and Nationality Directorate, UK

Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi

International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, 1998, 1999

Khalsa Human Rights

Ministry of Home Affairs

Punjab State Human Rights Commission

South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre (SAHRDC)

Transparency International

The Tribune

World Encyclopedia of Police Forces and Penal Systems

World Factbook of Criminal Justice Systems: India