NEW DELHI: According to a study published by Times of India, Indian police authorities deploy three policemen to protect one VIP whereas the number of police personnel deployed to protect a substantial number of 761 citizens boils down to one policeman.

The data released by various police organisations focuses on different states and territories and their respective strategies for sanctioning police personnel for VIP protection as opposed to the protection of other citizens, according to a report in Times of India.

According to the data revealed by Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) of the home ministry, in 2010, 50,059 police officials were deployed to protect 16,788 VIPs including ministers, MPs, MLAs, bureaucrats and judges. However, the number superseded the actual sanctioned number of police personnel designated for their protection by 21,761 officers.

According to the same report, the custom of deploying more personnel to protect VIPs in India is very common. The year 2009 was worse than 2010 in which 47,355 police personnel were deployed to protect 17,451 VIPs .Although the actual sanctioned number of officers to be made available for VIP security was 23,637, in real, it was found to be doubled over the course of the entire year.