interview
Police Reforms: Not a Priority of the Government www.saferindia.com terrorism and other sorts of violence] management. It is important to tackle the issues of terrorism, law and order and communal riots. It is seen that 80% to 90% of the policing impacts the common man. When the police aims to address these issues, public safety and security for the common man is ensured. Due to 26/11 in 2008, the public safety in 2009 was achieved completely.
Dr. Kiran Bedi Former Director General Bureau of Police Research and Development
How do you see the state of public safety and security in the country ? The state of police reforms is evident from “feet on ground�- of the Police forces. More than four lakh vacancies are there at present in the system, the aim should be to cover the existing vacancies and then increase the strength. As per the UN standards, the proportion of Policing is 222 policemen per one lakh people, where as at present, the proportion is 6
www.egovonline.net
120-130 policemen per one lakh people. Moreover, the major question which arises is how many of them are actually serving the common man, and are into day to day policing. Its ironical to notice that a big diversion [of Police forces] can be seen in the very important persons (VIPs) security, instead of serving the common man. The safety of the citizens comes from law and order and threat [from
Can you tell us about the current state of police reforms in the country? In terms of current state of reforms, an improvement in the overall infrastructure can be seen. One is able to transmit the information faster and also the analysis can be done at a faster rate. This can be seen as the beginning of a long process of institutionalisation of the Police department. Today, the day to day policing is not impacting the common man. The police officers, though have the authority, but are still not independent to take decisions on their own. They still depend upon the prior approvals. Though, in terms of the infrastructure our system has become stronger, but in terms of the assurance and the trust building from the citizens is still missing, which makes the whole system weak. Police reforms in the country can be brought in by implementation of the seven points directives issued by the Supreme Court in December 2006. However, not even a single state has implemented its directives. The apex court has itself gone slow in taking cognizance of these matters. There has been no kind of institutional approach from the Government of India towards the Police department and insulating it from political interference. Additionally, for reforms, constant training and capacity building is very important. At present, more than 80% of the Police budget goes into the salaries of the staff and hardly anything is left for the capacity building of the forces.