Dealing with Terrorism
*Saumitra Mohan
With the changes in time, the concept of security has also undergone changes. In these times of globalization, when complex interdependence and enhanced multilateral cooperation should have led to greater coordination and enhanced security all round, all of a sudden, the nation-state seem to be experiencing sharp decline in its ability to defend its citizens against all kinds of threats. With the sovereign status of the nation-state having been severely dented due to multifarious factors including the forces of globalization, the monopoly over legitimate use of violence also seem to have been drastically breached. The non-state actors (read terrorists, extremists and militants) all over have operated with impunity, with the Comity of Nations finding itself helpless against their determination to wreak havoc in pursuance of their different agenda.
India has often been christened a ‘soft state’ for its high level of tolerance, necessitated by its need to consolidate its nascent nation-state through different consociational (read inclusional) measures to accommodate all the constituent components of the federation at different levels of development. But now that India has been trying every possible means to shed this image by acting tough, the terrorists, separatist and fissiparous forces are still finding ways to strike at will.
But in all this, those who have desired all along to bleed India through a thousand cuts are themselves bleeding as the Frankenstein’s monster, they created, has not spared them as well. Today, terrorist attacks have become one of the biggest problems of our internal security concerns, with serious implications for the overarching security architecture.
Many serial bomb blasts in Bombay, train bombings, street bombings, terrorist attacks on the sacrosanct Parliament and many other such attacks later, we have been forced to do some serious thinking about the ways to deal with the same. While efforts have been made to deal with the root cause of the problem, particularly those stemming from an inegalitarian economic development and high levels of poverty, but experience says that under-development is not the only reason or only way to explain such a problem. After all, the western countries including the United States, the United Kingdom and Spain have also suffered at the hands of terrorism despite high levels of development. So, we have to look at the problem differently and deal with the same differently as well.
We should never lower our guard, while dealing with the threats of terrorism. While we should keep trying to address the basic reasons or sources of such problems by ratcheting up our efforts to find a lasting solution through socio-economic-political-diplomatic means, we also need to think of innovative ways of tackling such non-conventional threats to the integrity and security of our country. The proxy war being waged has gone too far now to be allowed to interfere with the peaceful existence and continued well-being of this country.
Against this background, today we need a multi-pronged strategy to deal with such threats on the ground. While efforts may be made to initiate dialogue with such estranged groups as and where possible to bring them aboard as well as to redress their developmental grievances through special initiatives and coordinated action, but more than that we now need to include the civil society in our overall strategy to tackle such threats. Since the threats are unconventional, the response also has to be unconventional. Today, every civilian in this country needs to be on his/her guard all the time and has to act as the ears and eyes of the state for all our security efforts to make any sense.
Our national security apparatus needs to give it a serious thought. Today, we not only need to further train and equip our police and para-military forces with better incentives thrown in to attract better quality people into such forces, we also need to harness the services of such agencies as National Cadet Corps, National Service Scheme and Civil Defense Wings in the interests of our internal security. We further need to find out, create and include more such groups to be a part of our extended security infrastructure. As many as possible, the members of the civil society need to be made part of this overall strategy and as such, special awareness and training programmes may be organized to make them an inalienable part of the security machine. After all, everyone needs to understand that with the country being insecure, they can never be secure.
Besides, we also have to improve the ground infrastructure to be better able to detect and prevent such threats to the lives and property of our citizens. So such simple things as installation of x-ray scan machines and close-circuit cameras coupled with regular checking with metal-detectors should be made compulsory at all the railway stations, bus terminals, important private and government offices as well as important and crowded thoroughfares and locations. The services of sniffer dogs can also be employed as and where required depending on threat perceptions, but definitely at all the crowded places. While costs involved in all this may seem prohibitive to begin with, but compared to the potential threats to the lives and property of our nation, they appear trifling. With such threats and their unpredictability only growing with every passing day, that seems the only way whereby such threats need to be tackled in future. So, before the push comes to shove, we should actually get going and try all the measures as suggested above.
Today, every citizen needs to be a soldier and every next location needs to be guarded and secured like a cherished fortress. Today, the way to deal with such non-conventional threats to our internal security is by taking all such preemptive measures and by becoming smarter and thinking faster than the terrorists to beat them at their own games.
*Saumitra Mohan is an IAS officer presently working as an Additional District Magistrate, Hooghly in West Bengal.
(The views expressed here are author’s personal views and does not reflect those of the Government.)
Address for correspondence:
Saumitra Mohan, IAS, Additional District Magistrate, Office of the District Magistrate, Hooghly-712101.
E-mail: saumitra_mohan@hotmail.com.
Phone: 033-26806456/26802043(O)/26802041(R).
Fax: 033-26802043.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Is bureaucracy the real culprit for all our woes?
Saumitra Mohan
Many in this country consider the Indian bureaucracy to be the prime suspect along with our political class for India not taking off the way it should have. They feel that because of many ills including the one emanating from our bureaucracy, India seems to have got stuck in a developmental time warp.
Now the point is is that really so? Have we verily lost so much because of this behemoth, the formidable steel-frame bequeathed to us by the Raj when it departed from this country? No doubt, bureaucracy is to blame to some extent along with other usual suspects for many of our problems. But no good student of Indian developmental history would and should deny the credit that Indian bureaucracy deserves.
True, many of our time twins have surpassed us in the developmental rat race but isn’t it also true that many of them have also fallen by the wayside. We always look at the successful to despise our own achievements without also looking at and comprehending the various inherent constraints India is burdened with.
Comparing the incomparable is never advisable. Look at Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and many other countries in Africa and Latin America and then we can better appreciate our own achievements. We were fortunate in not only having some selfless, dedicated and committed leaders at the helm at the time of our independence who led us successfully through the many initial teething troubles but we were also fortunate in having this strong institution of Indian bureaucracy which proved to be a great asset, something lacked by many.
And that is why the bureaucracy which is said to be so far hiding in a cocoon is itself been frantically trying to come out of it responding again to the logic and genius of time and place which have changed a lot by now. So, you have a slew of initiatives being taken right since the early nineties of the last century to reform the bureaucracy to make its functioning simpler, transparent, accessible and effective. Hence, the concept of a Facilitator Bureaucracy than that of a Provider Bureaucracy intoxicated with the opium of power and consequent feudal obeisance.
A society gets what it deserves. Bureaucracy can not but be a reflection of the society it comes out of. We all agree that our values are at an all time low. So as the value system of our society changes, so is changing the way people perceive the power and the bureaucracy. Some members of the bureaucracy, hidden behind the veil of Official Secrets Acts and such information which was not so far available to the people, so far could get away with many of their acts of omissions and commissions but no longer so. Not only is there a Right to Information in the offing, but there is also a much conscientised civil society ably assisted by a vibrant media and multiple interest groups which have put paid to the continuation of the lordly way in which the bureaucracy has functioned so far. Hence, the need for reform in bureaucracy and reform in the outlook of the people towards the bureaucracy.
While talking about the bureaucracy, we often forget that administration is not simply the All India Services or other Class-I services. It is, in fact, the entire machinery of the government at political level, the senior decision-making level and the implementation level. It is not only the District Magistrate at the district level but also the Patwari, the Tehsildar, the Revenue Officer, the Head Clerk, the policeman, the teacher of the government-run school, the doctor in the primary health centre and various elected officials of the panchayati raj institutions and all those at the lower rungs of the bureaucracy whose role is more crucial as it is the latter who come to contact with the hoi polloi on day to day basis.
It has often come to be seen that even though the senior officials are quite honest, it is the lower rung staff which has worsened the situation. Here, we would have to think of the whys and wherefores of their negative acts including the various ways to provide them a good career and incentive structure, something which is very much lacking in our system.
So, tinkering with bureaucracy would be of no avail unless and until we do the same for the whole society and the system at various levels. If we really wish to translate to goals of the welfare state that India is, we need reforms at ever level, from top to bottom with better incentive and monitoring structure backed by a sound education and value system.
Today, we need a conscientised civil society ably assisted by a vibrant Fourth Estate to make informed choice about every important issue at hand. We also need a well-oiled education system backed by a positive value system and a sound top-to-bottom bureaucratic and political structure with proper incentives and an effective system of checks and balances before we can actually expect to get our deserved place in the sun.
* Saumitra Mohan is an IAS officer presently working as an Additional District Magistrate, Hooghly in West Bengal.
(The views expressed here are author’s personal views and do not reflect those of the Government.)
Address for correspondence:
Saumitra Mohan, IAS, Additional District Magistrate, Office of the District Magistrate, Hooghly-712101.
E-mail: saumitra_mohan@hotmail.com.
Phone: 033-26806456/26802043(O)/26802041(R).
Fax: 033-26802043.
Mobile: 91-9831388803/9434242283.
Saumitra Mohan
Many in this country consider the Indian bureaucracy to be the prime suspect along with our political class for India not taking off the way it should have. They feel that because of many ills including the one emanating from our bureaucracy, India seems to have got stuck in a developmental time warp.
Now the point is is that really so? Have we verily lost so much because of this behemoth, the formidable steel-frame bequeathed to us by the Raj when it departed from this country? No doubt, bureaucracy is to blame to some extent along with other usual suspects for many of our problems. But no good student of Indian developmental history would and should deny the credit that Indian bureaucracy deserves.
True, many of our time twins have surpassed us in the developmental rat race but isn’t it also true that many of them have also fallen by the wayside. We always look at the successful to despise our own achievements without also looking at and comprehending the various inherent constraints India is burdened with.
Comparing the incomparable is never advisable. Look at Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and many other countries in Africa and Latin America and then we can better appreciate our own achievements. We were fortunate in not only having some selfless, dedicated and committed leaders at the helm at the time of our independence who led us successfully through the many initial teething troubles but we were also fortunate in having this strong institution of Indian bureaucracy which proved to be a great asset, something lacked by many.
And that is why the bureaucracy which is said to be so far hiding in a cocoon is itself been frantically trying to come out of it responding again to the logic and genius of time and place which have changed a lot by now. So, you have a slew of initiatives being taken right since the early nineties of the last century to reform the bureaucracy to make its functioning simpler, transparent, accessible and effective. Hence, the concept of a Facilitator Bureaucracy than that of a Provider Bureaucracy intoxicated with the opium of power and consequent feudal obeisance.
A society gets what it deserves. Bureaucracy can not but be a reflection of the society it comes out of. We all agree that our values are at an all time low. So as the value system of our society changes, so is changing the way people perceive the power and the bureaucracy. Some members of the bureaucracy, hidden behind the veil of Official Secrets Acts and such information which was not so far available to the people, so far could get away with many of their acts of omissions and commissions but no longer so. Not only is there a Right to Information in the offing, but there is also a much conscientised civil society ably assisted by a vibrant media and multiple interest groups which have put paid to the continuation of the lordly way in which the bureaucracy has functioned so far. Hence, the need for reform in bureaucracy and reform in the outlook of the people towards the bureaucracy.
While talking about the bureaucracy, we often forget that administration is not simply the All India Services or other Class-I services. It is, in fact, the entire machinery of the government at political level, the senior decision-making level and the implementation level. It is not only the District Magistrate at the district level but also the Patwari, the Tehsildar, the Revenue Officer, the Head Clerk, the policeman, the teacher of the government-run school, the doctor in the primary health centre and various elected officials of the panchayati raj institutions and all those at the lower rungs of the bureaucracy whose role is more crucial as it is the latter who come to contact with the hoi polloi on day to day basis.
It has often come to be seen that even though the senior officials are quite honest, it is the lower rung staff which has worsened the situation. Here, we would have to think of the whys and wherefores of their negative acts including the various ways to provide them a good career and incentive structure, something which is very much lacking in our system.
So, tinkering with bureaucracy would be of no avail unless and until we do the same for the whole society and the system at various levels. If we really wish to translate to goals of the welfare state that India is, we need reforms at ever level, from top to bottom with better incentive and monitoring structure backed by a sound education and value system.
Today, we need a conscientised civil society ably assisted by a vibrant Fourth Estate to make informed choice about every important issue at hand. We also need a well-oiled education system backed by a positive value system and a sound top-to-bottom bureaucratic and political structure with proper incentives and an effective system of checks and balances before we can actually expect to get our deserved place in the sun.
* Saumitra Mohan is an IAS officer presently working as an Additional District Magistrate, Hooghly in West Bengal.
(The views expressed here are author’s personal views and do not reflect those of the Government.)
Address for correspondence:
Saumitra Mohan, IAS, Additional District Magistrate, Office of the District Magistrate, Hooghly-712101.
E-mail: saumitra_mohan@hotmail.com.
Phone: 033-26806456/26802043(O)/26802041(R).
Fax: 033-26802043.
Mobile: 91-9831388803/9434242283.
The Great Expectations
Saumitra Mohan
Notwithstanding many indicators and indices boding very well, these are, indeed, the testing times for our country. Even though our economy is booming and our stock markets are zooming, we are actually stationed at a crucial crossroads. And where do we go from here shall decide the course of our future.
While we never tire of boasting about us having the world’s largest democracy, second largest population, third largest army, fourth largest economy (in purchasing power parity terms), fourth largest air force, fifth largest navy, sixth nuclear country and seventh largest industrialized country, the truth is also that beneath a seeming prosperity and success, we are faced with many systemic maladies which are expressing themselves in various ways. These include terrorist, secessionist and naxalite activism and violence, systemic corruption and institutional degeneration at various levels.
We are, today, one of world’s most corrupt countries as told to us time and again by the ilks of Transparency International. Even though vigilance of an overactive civil society and judiciary led by conscientized citizens, non-governmental organizations and media does give us some hope, the fact remains that we actually don’t know as to what might happen the next moment, whose bomb attack or violence some or many of us may fall prey to. Surprisingly enough, today we have guided missiles but misguided men out there to scupper their own boat for a few pieces of silver.
We all aspire to be a great power and as such hanker for such symbolisms as permanent membership of an almost defunct and toothless United Nations’ Security Council and the recognition of an alien United States for legitimizing our national nuclear programme, but we shall do almost nothing by way of our own character and behaviour that are becoming of citizens of a great country. We have all seen and heard as to how a Hansie Cronje, a Shane Warne or a Gunter Grass, pricked by a guilt consciousness, has come forward to confess about their mistake or folly, but how many times have we heard of an Indian coming forward to do so even though inquiries have proved them to be on the wrong side of the law. Believe it or not, our values and ethics are at an all time low despite those stupendous growth figures.
Infused with a ‘chalta hai’ attitude, we do anything and everything that suit us and our interests but shall shy away by miles to do things that actually evince a strong character behoving citizens of a great country. We resent a bandh or a strike, but shall not flinch from calling and participating in one such bandh, strike or procession when it suits us without any concern for others and, howsoever, detrimental the same may be to the interests of the system.
When it comes to burning social issues like those related to women, dowry, girl child and others, we make loud drawing room protestations but continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse being that, ‘it is the whole system which has to change. How will it matter if I alone forego my son’s right to a dowry? So who is going to change the system? What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us, it consists of our neighbours, other households, other cities, other communities and the government. But definitely not me and you. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system, we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr. Clean to come along with a magic wand and work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand or else we leave the country and run away.
Goaded by our Self, we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system but again when New York becomes insecure (as in the aftermath of twin tower bombings), we run to England. Again, when England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse and prostitute the country. Nobody thinks of feeding or nurturing the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to our selfish interests and we don’t wish to look beyond them.
At times, we talk of the rich demographic dividends forthcoming from having about more than half our population in the productive age group of 25-50 by 2040 AD, but we are hardly bothered as to how to reap this dividend successfully. After all, unless and until we build and develop our human resources, what use they would be of. John Stuart Mill was right when he said that ‘you can not think of becoming a great country with small men’ with small capacities, small thinking and dubious character.
While almost all of us keep whining about our government being inefficient, about our laws being too old or too bad, about our municipalities do not cleaning the streets, about our transport system being the worst in the world, about our mails never reaching their destination in time, and about our country having been gone to the dogs, turning into absolute pig sty. We keep on complaining and saying such things. But have we ever paused and thought as to what we do about them. John F Kennedy rightly said, ‘ask not what the country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country’.
Just also notice the behavioural change of an Indian while in India and while abroad. When out of country, we are at our best. When at Singapore, we don’t throw cigarette butts on the roads and we dutifully come back to the parking lot to punch our parking ticket if we have over-stayed there rather than sulking and trying to sneak away without payment as we often do in our own country.
Similarly, we don’t dare to eat in public during Ramadan while in Dubai or we don’t dare to go out without our head covered in Jeddah because the local laws demand that. We don’t chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand nor do we spit paan on the streets of Tokyo. We also don’t dare to speed beyond the stipulated limit in Washington DC and then try to get away with it by throwing our weight with the traffic cop
In America every dog owner has to clean up after his or her pet has done the job. Same in Japan and many other countries. But we never do the same when in our own country. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop throwing garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick up a stray piece of paper and put it in the dust bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms. We want our Airlines to provide the best of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the first available opportunity.
We go to the polls to choose a government and after that we forsake everything, forgetting all our responsibilities and duties. We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do anything and everything whilst our own contribution is totally nil or, at times, even negative. We destroy our own national property during a bandh or a strike and then complain about government not doing enough.
We should realize that a country is made of people and unless and until its people, the basic constituents forming it, value themselves, their country, their rights and, more importantly, their duties, we shall continue to grovel in the dust. If our system is bad it is because we are bad. Mind you, we get the government we deserve. So we should first deserve and only then desire.
*Saumitra Mohan is an IAS officer presently working as an Additional District Magistrate, Hooghly in West Bengal.
(The views expressed here are author’s personal views and does not reflect those of the Government.)
Address for correspondence:
Saumitra Mohan, IAS, Additional District Magistrate, Office of the District Magistrate, Hooghly-712101.
E-mail: saumitra_mohan@hotmail.com.
Phone: 033-26806456/26802043(O)/26802041(R).
Fax: 033-26802043.
Mobile: 91-9831388803/9434242283.
Saumitra Mohan
Notwithstanding many indicators and indices boding very well, these are, indeed, the testing times for our country. Even though our economy is booming and our stock markets are zooming, we are actually stationed at a crucial crossroads. And where do we go from here shall decide the course of our future.
While we never tire of boasting about us having the world’s largest democracy, second largest population, third largest army, fourth largest economy (in purchasing power parity terms), fourth largest air force, fifth largest navy, sixth nuclear country and seventh largest industrialized country, the truth is also that beneath a seeming prosperity and success, we are faced with many systemic maladies which are expressing themselves in various ways. These include terrorist, secessionist and naxalite activism and violence, systemic corruption and institutional degeneration at various levels.
We are, today, one of world’s most corrupt countries as told to us time and again by the ilks of Transparency International. Even though vigilance of an overactive civil society and judiciary led by conscientized citizens, non-governmental organizations and media does give us some hope, the fact remains that we actually don’t know as to what might happen the next moment, whose bomb attack or violence some or many of us may fall prey to. Surprisingly enough, today we have guided missiles but misguided men out there to scupper their own boat for a few pieces of silver.
We all aspire to be a great power and as such hanker for such symbolisms as permanent membership of an almost defunct and toothless United Nations’ Security Council and the recognition of an alien United States for legitimizing our national nuclear programme, but we shall do almost nothing by way of our own character and behaviour that are becoming of citizens of a great country. We have all seen and heard as to how a Hansie Cronje, a Shane Warne or a Gunter Grass, pricked by a guilt consciousness, has come forward to confess about their mistake or folly, but how many times have we heard of an Indian coming forward to do so even though inquiries have proved them to be on the wrong side of the law. Believe it or not, our values and ethics are at an all time low despite those stupendous growth figures.
Infused with a ‘chalta hai’ attitude, we do anything and everything that suit us and our interests but shall shy away by miles to do things that actually evince a strong character behoving citizens of a great country. We resent a bandh or a strike, but shall not flinch from calling and participating in one such bandh, strike or procession when it suits us without any concern for others and, howsoever, detrimental the same may be to the interests of the system.
When it comes to burning social issues like those related to women, dowry, girl child and others, we make loud drawing room protestations but continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse being that, ‘it is the whole system which has to change. How will it matter if I alone forego my son’s right to a dowry? So who is going to change the system? What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us, it consists of our neighbours, other households, other cities, other communities and the government. But definitely not me and you. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system, we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr. Clean to come along with a magic wand and work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand or else we leave the country and run away.
Goaded by our Self, we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system but again when New York becomes insecure (as in the aftermath of twin tower bombings), we run to England. Again, when England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse and prostitute the country. Nobody thinks of feeding or nurturing the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to our selfish interests and we don’t wish to look beyond them.
At times, we talk of the rich demographic dividends forthcoming from having about more than half our population in the productive age group of 25-50 by 2040 AD, but we are hardly bothered as to how to reap this dividend successfully. After all, unless and until we build and develop our human resources, what use they would be of. John Stuart Mill was right when he said that ‘you can not think of becoming a great country with small men’ with small capacities, small thinking and dubious character.
While almost all of us keep whining about our government being inefficient, about our laws being too old or too bad, about our municipalities do not cleaning the streets, about our transport system being the worst in the world, about our mails never reaching their destination in time, and about our country having been gone to the dogs, turning into absolute pig sty. We keep on complaining and saying such things. But have we ever paused and thought as to what we do about them. John F Kennedy rightly said, ‘ask not what the country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country’.
Just also notice the behavioural change of an Indian while in India and while abroad. When out of country, we are at our best. When at Singapore, we don’t throw cigarette butts on the roads and we dutifully come back to the parking lot to punch our parking ticket if we have over-stayed there rather than sulking and trying to sneak away without payment as we often do in our own country.
Similarly, we don’t dare to eat in public during Ramadan while in Dubai or we don’t dare to go out without our head covered in Jeddah because the local laws demand that. We don’t chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand nor do we spit paan on the streets of Tokyo. We also don’t dare to speed beyond the stipulated limit in Washington DC and then try to get away with it by throwing our weight with the traffic cop
In America every dog owner has to clean up after his or her pet has done the job. Same in Japan and many other countries. But we never do the same when in our own country. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop throwing garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick up a stray piece of paper and put it in the dust bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms. We want our Airlines to provide the best of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the first available opportunity.
We go to the polls to choose a government and after that we forsake everything, forgetting all our responsibilities and duties. We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do anything and everything whilst our own contribution is totally nil or, at times, even negative. We destroy our own national property during a bandh or a strike and then complain about government not doing enough.
We should realize that a country is made of people and unless and until its people, the basic constituents forming it, value themselves, their country, their rights and, more importantly, their duties, we shall continue to grovel in the dust. If our system is bad it is because we are bad. Mind you, we get the government we deserve. So we should first deserve and only then desire.
*Saumitra Mohan is an IAS officer presently working as an Additional District Magistrate, Hooghly in West Bengal.
(The views expressed here are author’s personal views and does not reflect those of the Government.)
Address for correspondence:
Saumitra Mohan, IAS, Additional District Magistrate, Office of the District Magistrate, Hooghly-712101.
E-mail: saumitra_mohan@hotmail.com.
Phone: 033-26806456/26802043(O)/26802041(R).
Fax: 033-26802043.
Mobile: 91-9831388803/9434242283.
Reforming the Police and Policing
Saumitra Mohan
While we have all felt all along the need for a strong, independent and sensitized police force for better enforcement of the law of the land and for protection of the hoi polloi's common civil rights, all this remained pious thoughts only, just nostrums from the rostrums. But many police reforms commissions and committees later, the issue of police reforms has finally caught the attention of our celebrated judiciary and with that of our government. And rightly so.
Notwithstanding the fact that we became independent almost sixty years back, we have left our police and policing to be governed by the colonial Indian Police Act of 1861. Even though a lot of incremental changes have been introduced in this Act from time to time but they have been more in the nature of a patch-work and our police organization definitely deserves a better deal, more so in view of the multiple threats posed to our internal security.
Ironically, the court’s order came exactly a fortnight after the Police Act Drafting Committee headed by Soli Sorabjee put out for debate the rough draft for a new law to replace the antiquated Indian Police Act of 1861. The draft Police Act, inter alia, has provisions to check pressure on subordinate officers from their superiors and other quarters.
So now, if the Supreme Court of India has its way and if the proposed legislation on police reforms see the light of the day, the police are in for a meaningful makeover in not so distant future. While hearing a public interest litigation, the three-judge bench headed by no less than the Chief Justice of India has issued instructions to the requisite authorities to take necessary action in this regard as per detailed directives given by the court. The court directive recommends sweeping reforms, from restructuring of the entire force to its modernization and various qualitative changes.
As per recommendations, all states are to constitute a State Security Commission (SSC), a Police Establishment Board and a Police Complaints Authority. States are expected to ensure that all officers, from the rank of an SP to DGP, hold office, wherever they are posted, for, at least, two years. The UPSC is supposed to recommend three DGPs for each state out of which one will be selected by the SSC. Similarly, there will be a National Security Commission to pick the heads of the BSF, CISF, CRPF and the ITBP.
The Bench has also ordered the setting up of a Commission to decide on selections and appointments to cushion the police force including officers from undue interference from various quarters in matters as important as the selection, posting and transfer of the officers. The two other striking aspects are the creation of a state security commission to supervise the entire police force and a complaints authority to probe complaints of misconduct against the police officials. All in all, the directive ought to streamline the functioning of the police in an effective and non-partisan manner.
The Home Ministry is believed to be keen on the creation of a federal agency that can investigate cases that have inter-state and international ramifications. Cases with cross-border implications like narcotics, trafficking of women and smuggling of arms are to be handled by what is to be called the Central Intelligence and Investigating Agency. The Central Government can directly ask it to investigate certain cases without the consent of the states, something which has far-reaching consequences for the federal structure of the Indian State and in keeping with the centralizing tendencies seen around the world in all the federal states.
At the same time, another special committee, constituted in December 2004, has identified 49 recommendations from the numerous reports of different police commissions to bring about drastic changes in the police and policing. It has confined itself to drawing up recommendations that are crucial for improvement in police functioning and the implementation of which would make an immediate impact on the reform process.
Among the short listed recommendations are those on which the Supreme Court has issued directives. The other recommendations include the creation of a Federal Police for internal security, modernization of police forces, improvement in forensic science and infrastructure, tackling organized crime, tackling economic offences, amending the Identification of Prisoners Act and measures to improve accountability and efficiency at all levels of the police hierarchy.
While we all acknowledge that there, indeed, should be police reforms because of the way it has been functioning so far, the fact remains that the popular perception of the police is very negative. The police, as it functions now, is perceived as unresponsive, obtrusive, callous, corrupt, inefficient and ineffective notwithstanding the multifarious constraints and odds against which our police is pitted namely a rickety infrastructure, shortage of manpower, lack of necessary financial and other resources, lack of adequate training, unremunerative compensation and, most importantly, excessive political interference. So, there definitely is more than a case for not only reforming the police organization to cushion it against various ominous and insidious influences of the political power play, but also to make its functioning more transparent, responsive, sensitized, effective and independent, simultaneously equipping it with all the requisite infrastructure, resources and manpower.
But even though accepting the need for the police reforms, there have been clear voices of dissent from those corners which are liable to lose power and control over the police as a result of the proposed reforms. These voices have been those of the political and permanent executive. They feel that the reforms, as proposed, need more threadbare discussion and debate than plunging headlong into its implementation without minding the implications thereof but the judiciary has dug its heels in terming such suggestions and arguments as dilatory tactics.
Even while believing that many of these fears are baseless, one does feel that the supervisory control of the magistracy over the police should not be weakened any further. Keeping in mind the Actonion (of Lord Acton) dictum of ‘power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely’, we should be careful that while guaranteeing absolute independence to police, it should not be allowed to become an empire in itself, unamenable to any supervisory control. While there are provisions of a Complaints Board, such a structure has always been found to be too formal in its operation. Ergo, there is definitely a need to revive the supervisory powers of the Executive Magistrate over the police, as also envisaged in the Police Rules but fallen in disuse. The Executive Magistrate in the field is the grass-root officer who is more easily accessible to the people and has a much more people-friendly face than the police. So, such age old practices as thana inspection and some say in performance evaluation by the Magistrate should be revived and further strengthened.
While one appreciates the fears expressed by all the sides, one also feels that one should, indeed, not rush through something as vital as police reforms and all related aspects ought to be thoroughly discussed before being implemented. Alternatively, the police reforms, as proposed, can be implemented, on a pilot basis, in one or two states (which have already consented to such reforms) while simultaneously continuing with an informed discussion and debate over police reforms. The learnings from the ‘pilot states’ can later be factored to further fine-tune these reforms. But police reforms are definitely something that require more than dilettantism and amateurish attention.
Even though this judicial activism has raised some hackles and ruffled some feathers, the ball for the police reforms has been set rolling. While the implementation of the proposed legislation may take time owing to fierce opposition from certain quarters, at least, a beginning has been made in transforming our police force into a more people-friendly and modern force. And with the Prime Minister and the Home Minister eager about implementing the far-reaching reforms, one is tempted to believe that this time police reforms shall receive their due share of attention and something positive shall come about. So, one should be more positive and optimistic because of the fact that this time judicial activism is matched by the government's enthusiasm to reform the police organization.
*Saumitra Mohan is an IAS officer presently working as an Additional District Magistrate, Hooghly in West Bengal.
(The views expressed here are author’s personal views and do not reflect those of the Government.)
Address for correspondence:
Saumitra Mohan, IAS, Additional District Magistrate, Office of the District Magistrate, Hooghly-712101.
E-mail: saumitra_mohan@hotmail.com.
Phone: 033-26806456/26802043(O)/26802041(R).
Fax: 033-26802043.
Mobile: 91-9831388803/9434242283.
Saumitra Mohan
While we have all felt all along the need for a strong, independent and sensitized police force for better enforcement of the law of the land and for protection of the hoi polloi's common civil rights, all this remained pious thoughts only, just nostrums from the rostrums. But many police reforms commissions and committees later, the issue of police reforms has finally caught the attention of our celebrated judiciary and with that of our government. And rightly so.
Notwithstanding the fact that we became independent almost sixty years back, we have left our police and policing to be governed by the colonial Indian Police Act of 1861. Even though a lot of incremental changes have been introduced in this Act from time to time but they have been more in the nature of a patch-work and our police organization definitely deserves a better deal, more so in view of the multiple threats posed to our internal security.
Ironically, the court’s order came exactly a fortnight after the Police Act Drafting Committee headed by Soli Sorabjee put out for debate the rough draft for a new law to replace the antiquated Indian Police Act of 1861. The draft Police Act, inter alia, has provisions to check pressure on subordinate officers from their superiors and other quarters.
So now, if the Supreme Court of India has its way and if the proposed legislation on police reforms see the light of the day, the police are in for a meaningful makeover in not so distant future. While hearing a public interest litigation, the three-judge bench headed by no less than the Chief Justice of India has issued instructions to the requisite authorities to take necessary action in this regard as per detailed directives given by the court. The court directive recommends sweeping reforms, from restructuring of the entire force to its modernization and various qualitative changes.
As per recommendations, all states are to constitute a State Security Commission (SSC), a Police Establishment Board and a Police Complaints Authority. States are expected to ensure that all officers, from the rank of an SP to DGP, hold office, wherever they are posted, for, at least, two years. The UPSC is supposed to recommend three DGPs for each state out of which one will be selected by the SSC. Similarly, there will be a National Security Commission to pick the heads of the BSF, CISF, CRPF and the ITBP.
The Bench has also ordered the setting up of a Commission to decide on selections and appointments to cushion the police force including officers from undue interference from various quarters in matters as important as the selection, posting and transfer of the officers. The two other striking aspects are the creation of a state security commission to supervise the entire police force and a complaints authority to probe complaints of misconduct against the police officials. All in all, the directive ought to streamline the functioning of the police in an effective and non-partisan manner.
The Home Ministry is believed to be keen on the creation of a federal agency that can investigate cases that have inter-state and international ramifications. Cases with cross-border implications like narcotics, trafficking of women and smuggling of arms are to be handled by what is to be called the Central Intelligence and Investigating Agency. The Central Government can directly ask it to investigate certain cases without the consent of the states, something which has far-reaching consequences for the federal structure of the Indian State and in keeping with the centralizing tendencies seen around the world in all the federal states.
At the same time, another special committee, constituted in December 2004, has identified 49 recommendations from the numerous reports of different police commissions to bring about drastic changes in the police and policing. It has confined itself to drawing up recommendations that are crucial for improvement in police functioning and the implementation of which would make an immediate impact on the reform process.
Among the short listed recommendations are those on which the Supreme Court has issued directives. The other recommendations include the creation of a Federal Police for internal security, modernization of police forces, improvement in forensic science and infrastructure, tackling organized crime, tackling economic offences, amending the Identification of Prisoners Act and measures to improve accountability and efficiency at all levels of the police hierarchy.
While we all acknowledge that there, indeed, should be police reforms because of the way it has been functioning so far, the fact remains that the popular perception of the police is very negative. The police, as it functions now, is perceived as unresponsive, obtrusive, callous, corrupt, inefficient and ineffective notwithstanding the multifarious constraints and odds against which our police is pitted namely a rickety infrastructure, shortage of manpower, lack of necessary financial and other resources, lack of adequate training, unremunerative compensation and, most importantly, excessive political interference. So, there definitely is more than a case for not only reforming the police organization to cushion it against various ominous and insidious influences of the political power play, but also to make its functioning more transparent, responsive, sensitized, effective and independent, simultaneously equipping it with all the requisite infrastructure, resources and manpower.
But even though accepting the need for the police reforms, there have been clear voices of dissent from those corners which are liable to lose power and control over the police as a result of the proposed reforms. These voices have been those of the political and permanent executive. They feel that the reforms, as proposed, need more threadbare discussion and debate than plunging headlong into its implementation without minding the implications thereof but the judiciary has dug its heels in terming such suggestions and arguments as dilatory tactics.
Even while believing that many of these fears are baseless, one does feel that the supervisory control of the magistracy over the police should not be weakened any further. Keeping in mind the Actonion (of Lord Acton) dictum of ‘power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely’, we should be careful that while guaranteeing absolute independence to police, it should not be allowed to become an empire in itself, unamenable to any supervisory control. While there are provisions of a Complaints Board, such a structure has always been found to be too formal in its operation. Ergo, there is definitely a need to revive the supervisory powers of the Executive Magistrate over the police, as also envisaged in the Police Rules but fallen in disuse. The Executive Magistrate in the field is the grass-root officer who is more easily accessible to the people and has a much more people-friendly face than the police. So, such age old practices as thana inspection and some say in performance evaluation by the Magistrate should be revived and further strengthened.
While one appreciates the fears expressed by all the sides, one also feels that one should, indeed, not rush through something as vital as police reforms and all related aspects ought to be thoroughly discussed before being implemented. Alternatively, the police reforms, as proposed, can be implemented, on a pilot basis, in one or two states (which have already consented to such reforms) while simultaneously continuing with an informed discussion and debate over police reforms. The learnings from the ‘pilot states’ can later be factored to further fine-tune these reforms. But police reforms are definitely something that require more than dilettantism and amateurish attention.
Even though this judicial activism has raised some hackles and ruffled some feathers, the ball for the police reforms has been set rolling. While the implementation of the proposed legislation may take time owing to fierce opposition from certain quarters, at least, a beginning has been made in transforming our police force into a more people-friendly and modern force. And with the Prime Minister and the Home Minister eager about implementing the far-reaching reforms, one is tempted to believe that this time police reforms shall receive their due share of attention and something positive shall come about. So, one should be more positive and optimistic because of the fact that this time judicial activism is matched by the government's enthusiasm to reform the police organization.
*Saumitra Mohan is an IAS officer presently working as an Additional District Magistrate, Hooghly in West Bengal.
(The views expressed here are author’s personal views and do not reflect those of the Government.)
Address for correspondence:
Saumitra Mohan, IAS, Additional District Magistrate, Office of the District Magistrate, Hooghly-712101.
E-mail: saumitra_mohan@hotmail.com.
Phone: 033-26806456/26802043(O)/26802041(R).
Fax: 033-26802043.
Mobile: 91-9831388803/9434242283.
Lessons from Singur
*Saumitra Mohan
The Singur controversy in West Bengal is showing no signs of subsiding and settling down. And with the opposition further ratcheting up its the politics of protests and agitations, one really needs to do some thinking as to whether it is advisable to allow the same to continue till the cows come home. With the Opposition not responding to the saner appeals of dialogue and discussion, the agitprop revolving around land acquisitions in Singur and Nandigram is increasingly getting out of hand and is more than a law and order problem now.
While nobody denies that the Opposition’s has the right in a functioning democracy to register its voice of protests, but the same should not be reckless and at the cost of the interests of the state.
One just has to take a peek at some of the statistics to know as to how West Bengal has been faring in the developmental rat race. Constituting ten per cent of the Indian market, the state today has an annual consumption expenditure of about US$ 26.37 billion. Country’s most rapidly growing industrial region, West Bengal, today, is the third largest economy in the country with a Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of US$ 23 billion at current price. It is second only to Karnataka in per capita growth (5.4 per cent), well above the national average (4.2 per cent) and is next to Maharashtra in terms of companies established (72,437), with a paid up capital of US$ 8,834 million.
Even more interesting is the fact that the per capita incomes of West Bengal and Maharashtra, after excluding the two metros of Mumbai and Kolkata, have come fairly close. West Bengal's per capita income, after excluding Kolkata, is Rs 12,671 while that of Maharashtra's without Mumbai is Rs 13, 897. It has the second highest Compounded Average Growth Rate in the country i.e. 5.49 per cent against a national average of 4.4 per cent. The Compounded Average Growth Rate of West Bengal’s real NSDP stood at 8 per cent between 1994 and 2004, thereby outperforming the national GDP growth. Today, the state has an industrial growth rate which is 1.1 per cent higher than the national average. The growth trajectory is, indeed, brilliant by any standard.
Against this background, one would submit that while the Opposition definitely has a right to oppose governments’ policies, but the same should be principled and responsible rather than opposition and politics just for the heck of it, and without any care or concern for the interests of the common people.
One would do well to remember that it was the sanguinary Naxalite movement of the sixties which had not only negatively impacted the image of West Bengal but had also led to the flight of capital and industries from the state. Now that when the government is trying to make up for the lost time in its bid to catch up with the rest of the country, sustained law and order problems coupled with politics of bandh and strikes would nix all such attempts. At a time when the economic turn-around of the state seems just round the corner, a no-holds-barred politics of irresponsible opposition is queering the pitch.
Believe it or not, this is how land has been acquired all these past years throughout the country. So, if at all the opposition had any point to make, they have already done so. Today, we do have a wider debate raging in the country about the advisability of continuing with a colonial Land Acquisition Act, 1894 and about the sundry issues revolving around land acquisition for a ‘public purpose’. The issues which the Singur controversy has thrown up also include the advisability of the government acquiring land for private industries, the definition of ‘public purpose’, the issue of preventing industries from acquiring more land than is actually required for a particular project, the advisability of acquiring fertile agricultural land, the need to have a suitable land policy including updated land records, and the advisability of establishing industries by displacing already settled people.
The Opposition and many observers feel that a popularly elected government has much better things to do than getting into the act of acquiring land for private industries. They also feel that government had better focus more on development of basic infrastructure and favourable policy back up rather than ‘acting as agents of private industries’. But mind you that a popularly elected government can not just sit idle at a time when other states of the Indian Federation are going out of their way to woo private industries. The government has to take proactive measures to successfully compete against others as is being done in West Bengal.
Now with the hindsight, one can definitely say that from now on, if at all, the governments intervene into some such land acquisitions, proper homework ought to be done beforehand including building a broad consensus among those concerned including the Opposition and putting in place a proper rehabilitation policy for those affected and displaced by the proposed acquisition. On the other hand, the opposition also needs to be more responsible than it has been so far and should respond to the appeals for ‘reasonable’ dialogue and discussion as and when requested to.
One would do better to know that the change never comes without its costs. If a baby is born, the mother would necessarily have to undergo the labour pain. So, Singur signifies momentous changes in the history of West Bengal and as such vested interests of different kinds would do their best to resist the same but one is sure that labour pain is what it is, the labour pain. It would go once the baby of change materializes and settles down. Today, Singur is more symbolic than anything else. It signifies the intractable desires of Bharat to make peace with India and coexist as dignified equals with other members in the Comity of Nations.
*Saumitra Mohan is an IAS officer presently working as an Additional District Magistrate, Hooghly in West Bengal.
(The views expressed here are author’s personal views and do not reflect those of the Government.)
Address for correspondence:
Saumitra Mohan, IAS, Additional District Magistrate, Office of the District Magistrate, Hooghly-712101.
E-mail: saumitra_mohan@hotmail.com.
Phone: 033-26806456/26802043(O)/26802041(R).
Fax: 033-26802043.
Mobile: 91-9831388803/9434242283.
*Saumitra Mohan
The Singur controversy in West Bengal is showing no signs of subsiding and settling down. And with the opposition further ratcheting up its the politics of protests and agitations, one really needs to do some thinking as to whether it is advisable to allow the same to continue till the cows come home. With the Opposition not responding to the saner appeals of dialogue and discussion, the agitprop revolving around land acquisitions in Singur and Nandigram is increasingly getting out of hand and is more than a law and order problem now.
While nobody denies that the Opposition’s has the right in a functioning democracy to register its voice of protests, but the same should not be reckless and at the cost of the interests of the state.
One just has to take a peek at some of the statistics to know as to how West Bengal has been faring in the developmental rat race. Constituting ten per cent of the Indian market, the state today has an annual consumption expenditure of about US$ 26.37 billion. Country’s most rapidly growing industrial region, West Bengal, today, is the third largest economy in the country with a Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of US$ 23 billion at current price. It is second only to Karnataka in per capita growth (5.4 per cent), well above the national average (4.2 per cent) and is next to Maharashtra in terms of companies established (72,437), with a paid up capital of US$ 8,834 million.
Even more interesting is the fact that the per capita incomes of West Bengal and Maharashtra, after excluding the two metros of Mumbai and Kolkata, have come fairly close. West Bengal's per capita income, after excluding Kolkata, is Rs 12,671 while that of Maharashtra's without Mumbai is Rs 13, 897. It has the second highest Compounded Average Growth Rate in the country i.e. 5.49 per cent against a national average of 4.4 per cent. The Compounded Average Growth Rate of West Bengal’s real NSDP stood at 8 per cent between 1994 and 2004, thereby outperforming the national GDP growth. Today, the state has an industrial growth rate which is 1.1 per cent higher than the national average. The growth trajectory is, indeed, brilliant by any standard.
Against this background, one would submit that while the Opposition definitely has a right to oppose governments’ policies, but the same should be principled and responsible rather than opposition and politics just for the heck of it, and without any care or concern for the interests of the common people.
One would do well to remember that it was the sanguinary Naxalite movement of the sixties which had not only negatively impacted the image of West Bengal but had also led to the flight of capital and industries from the state. Now that when the government is trying to make up for the lost time in its bid to catch up with the rest of the country, sustained law and order problems coupled with politics of bandh and strikes would nix all such attempts. At a time when the economic turn-around of the state seems just round the corner, a no-holds-barred politics of irresponsible opposition is queering the pitch.
Believe it or not, this is how land has been acquired all these past years throughout the country. So, if at all the opposition had any point to make, they have already done so. Today, we do have a wider debate raging in the country about the advisability of continuing with a colonial Land Acquisition Act, 1894 and about the sundry issues revolving around land acquisition for a ‘public purpose’. The issues which the Singur controversy has thrown up also include the advisability of the government acquiring land for private industries, the definition of ‘public purpose’, the issue of preventing industries from acquiring more land than is actually required for a particular project, the advisability of acquiring fertile agricultural land, the need to have a suitable land policy including updated land records, and the advisability of establishing industries by displacing already settled people.
The Opposition and many observers feel that a popularly elected government has much better things to do than getting into the act of acquiring land for private industries. They also feel that government had better focus more on development of basic infrastructure and favourable policy back up rather than ‘acting as agents of private industries’. But mind you that a popularly elected government can not just sit idle at a time when other states of the Indian Federation are going out of their way to woo private industries. The government has to take proactive measures to successfully compete against others as is being done in West Bengal.
Now with the hindsight, one can definitely say that from now on, if at all, the governments intervene into some such land acquisitions, proper homework ought to be done beforehand including building a broad consensus among those concerned including the Opposition and putting in place a proper rehabilitation policy for those affected and displaced by the proposed acquisition. On the other hand, the opposition also needs to be more responsible than it has been so far and should respond to the appeals for ‘reasonable’ dialogue and discussion as and when requested to.
One would do better to know that the change never comes without its costs. If a baby is born, the mother would necessarily have to undergo the labour pain. So, Singur signifies momentous changes in the history of West Bengal and as such vested interests of different kinds would do their best to resist the same but one is sure that labour pain is what it is, the labour pain. It would go once the baby of change materializes and settles down. Today, Singur is more symbolic than anything else. It signifies the intractable desires of Bharat to make peace with India and coexist as dignified equals with other members in the Comity of Nations.
*Saumitra Mohan is an IAS officer presently working as an Additional District Magistrate, Hooghly in West Bengal.
(The views expressed here are author’s personal views and do not reflect those of the Government.)
Address for correspondence:
Saumitra Mohan, IAS, Additional District Magistrate, Office of the District Magistrate, Hooghly-712101.
E-mail: saumitra_mohan@hotmail.com.
Phone: 033-26806456/26802043(O)/26802041(R).
Fax: 033-26802043.
Mobile: 91-9831388803/9434242283.
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