Beed: Police protection provided to five senior political leaders in the Beed district has been withdrawn following a government review aimed at reducing unnecessary expenditure and redeploying police manpower for law-and-order duties.
The decision was taken after the District Security Review Committee found that the leaders no longer faced any serious threat to their lives. The withdrawn security cover included protection for former minister Jaidatt Kshirsagar, former MLAs Bhimrao Dhonde and Amarsinh Pandit, NCP district president Rajeshwar Chavan, and State Food Commission chairman Subhash Raut.
Beed Superintendent of Police Navneet Kanwat said the action was taken as per the court's directions and the review committee's recommendations. Officials said many leaders had continued to receive security for years even after leaving public office.
Authorities said no charges were being collected from the beneficiaries for the security arrangements. Officials also noted that protection was often retained for status and prestige rather than actual threat perception.
The move comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s push to reduce non-essential government spending and rationalise official security arrangements across the country.
Police officials said the withdrawal of unnecessary security cover would help free trained personnel for regular policing work. Security protection will now mainly remain with sitting ministers, MPs, MLAs and people connected to sensitive cases.
Officials also revealed that several police personnel assigned as bodyguards were being used for personal work, document handling and ceremonial duties instead of security responsibilities. They said the latest action would help restore professional standards in the police department.
