July 25, 2020

Police Reforms needed in India

When a common person comes to the presence of Police in India, He/She feels more intimidated than safe. Most of us avoid going to the Police station for something like a passport verification, many don't want to file complaints, either they feel annoying or they don't want to indulge in Police affairs.

Do we really need a big Police Reform?

Firstly, the brutal treatment of father and son in Sathankulam Police station of Thoothukudi district in Tamilnadu which resulted in their death in police custody showed the ugly side of the police system. In this case, the duo was killed because they have questioned the police functioning in the Lockdown norms.

This case had shown us the custodial deaths are still a serious concern in our modern society.

Secondly, Cases in Kanpur such as the encounter of gangster Vikas Dubey and the recent kidnapping and murder of a 28-year old Sanjeet Yadav have created suspicion on police.

The encounter of monster Vikas Dubey in such circumstances has raised several questions on UP police.

On the other side, in the case of Sanjeet Yadav police negligence and a bad approach towards the crime have made a family lose their young son as well as 30 lakh rupees of ransom. The police couldn't protect the person despite giving the ransom money to the kidnappers.

Thirdly, the video of the incident in Guna, Madhya Pradesh shattered us, where an unprivileged couple was being removed forcefully from the government plot allotted for the construction of the college. The couple consumed pesticides while they were being beaten by the police. The video made cleared the brutality which was being imposed by the MP Police.

The above incidents are just an example of different faces of the police system. So, Police reform is the need for time for better implementation of law and order in the system.

Issues related to the Functioning of Police

Political Criminalisation Nexus: 2nd Administrative Reforms Commission,2007 stated that the excess of power to Police has been used by political figures like using the police personnel to serve political and personal interests. Political figures also influence investigation and inquiry by police systems and their several bodies like CBI, ED, etc. Now, the question is;

Why governments are not placing any act on political criminalization?

An Overburdened Police Force: United nations recommended 222 police per lakh persons. Hence, while the sanctioned police strength was 181 police per lakh persons in 2016, the actual strength was 137 per lakh persons. The state police have 24% vacancies (about 5.5lakh) in January 2016. Here, questions arise on the governments;

Why the government is not filling the vacancies at the proper time?

Police Accountability: In India, various complaints are raised against the police such as torture, unwarranted arrests, unlawful searches, custodial deaths. In such cases, there must be the accountability of senior officers of IPS rank, independent oversight authorities.

Lack of resources: The CAG audits have found that there is a high shortage of proper weapons for the State Police force. In Rajasthan and West Bengal, there are shortages of 75% and 71% respectively. According to the Bureau of Police Research and Development, there is a shortage of police vehicles by 30.5% in state police forces. While contrary to this, the criminal gets access to high-quality weaponry as we saw in The killing of 8 police personals in Kanpur where they were laced with a high amount of weaponry and ammunition. Again the question arises here;

Why the government is not providing proper resources?

The sad part is that our police forces are still using the weapons which were used in the British Era.

Ways forward

Independent Complaints Authority: The Supreme court has observed that there is a need for an Independent Authority that enquires into police misconduct. The Model Police Act, 2006 requires each state to set up an authority that contains retired high court judges, people from civil societies, retired police officers, public administrators from different states.

Implementing the Supreme Court's Directives:- The Supreme Court has given 7 directives in the Prakash Singh case 2006 which has not been implemented till now.

The government should provide financial incentives to the department to adopt co-responder programs where social workers can join to deal with several non-violent issues like mental health, addiction, homeless issues.

The other side

There are a lot of problems the police also faces while doing their duty like

Political pressure like the threat of transfer and suspension. Overindulgence of politicians in high profile cases (again political criminalization)

Excess criticism by Media houses and their misconducts.

Bad behavior by fellow citizens, we have come to several recent incidents like,

In Punjab, a crazy Nihang(a Punjabi tribe) chopped off the hand of an ASI when he asked for a curfew pass during the lockdown.

While on the other hand, an honest woman police constable couldn't get support from her seniors when she arrests the son of Gujarat State Minister of Health Kumar Kanani.

They even get beaten by the people when they were there to provide health care to the patients of COVID-19 with rocks and lathis during the lockdown period.

Opinion

I think..............

A common citizen doesn't care about the statistics, ideas, and roles, so our police forces must work upon the makeover of their image among the citizens, which will make a difference and a better environment for everyone.

The adverse situation of COVID-19 had made us realize their role in our society where they were seen winning the hearts of people by their selfless service. We must acknowledge their service towards us.

This COVID-19 situation has also opened a new chapter - where a new form of police is evolving which is more humane, people-friendly, sensitive, and committed to the rule of law. This transformation needs the support of people, media, and above all, parliamentarians and legislators.