Police
Reforms in India:
The National
Police Commission (1977-81), Ribeiro Committee (1998-99), Padmanabhaiah
Committee (2000), Soli Sorabjee Committee (2005) commissions, Supreme
Court intervention (2006) and
various other luminaries have been clamouring for police reforms in India. The
suggestions are for to insulate the police from political influence, separate
the investigation arm from the law & order arm, making the police more
sensitive to the common man.
All
these reforms will go a long long way in making the Indian police a truly
professional service and remove a lot of the pressures & strains on the
policemen & policewomen. Yet, I think one area that has been missed by all
of these reports, white papers and discussions.
India
has one of the worst police to people ratio in the world. Even if all the
vacancies are filled in the police force, the ratio will still not be up to the
ratio that has been suggested as the ideal.
My
suggestion is that all citizens of India should be made to serve in the police
for a minimum of 3 years between the ages of 18 to 30 years. This will be a
one-time continuous service period.
The idea
is neither novel nor original. Israel has compulsory service for all its
citizens between the age of 18 to 24 yrs in its armed forces, with the option
of continue after the compulsory 2 yrs. Switzerland has an citizen army with
every able body person required to serve when called upon in times of distress.
For a long time in human history, before the concept of modernized organized
military forces came into being; during wartimes common people were called to
augment the military.
Let me
tell how the idea of compulsory police service will be beneficial.
In
India, police are viewed with suspect and are often the subject to worst
criticism coming next only to politicians. Sometimes, these criticisms are made
without any understanding of the conditions under which the police have to work.
Yes, I agree that sometimes the criticisms are warranted. Most of the
criticisms are by the arm chair pundits who have never been on the field with
the police working with all the pressures they face. By making people serve in
the police, the issues, and the pressures and constrain faced by the police
will be seen by all. It will make the people empathize with their fellow
officers.
India
has a huge problem of unemployment. So many talented people just waste away
their lives because they simply do not get an opportunity to showcase their
talent. Many are unemployed not because they do not want to work but because
they do not get work. This large untapped workforce can be easily channeled to
do good for the country.
There
are reports that police forces have a myopic view of the minorities. Imagine
what a load of good it will do by the infusion of the fresh blood into the
police force? Imagine what it will do to improve the number of women personnel
serving in the police force.
Why have
I suggested that the compulsory service be done anytime between 18 and 30 yrs?
Some people would be willing to join the Indian Armed forces or be taking the
UPSC. Those people should be given the chance to join the service of their
choice. If they make it, they will not be asked to do the compulsory service.
At the
time of joining the people would be asked to choose between either compulsory
service or voluntary service. The people choosing the voluntary service will
obviously have better career progression and perks. However, the voluntary
service personnel will have to do a minimum service of 10 years before they can
leave the service.
I am
sure there will be people who will say that suppose they do not want to do the
3 years compulsory service, what then? A suggestion would be for the people who
opt to be placed on a higher tax bracket then people who do their service or
that people who do their service will be put on a lower tax bracket.
There
are of course, many irons to be worked out in this suggestion; and as the saying
goes “the devil lies in the details” there will be many problems that need be
solved before this suggestion can be implemented like what role the compulsory
drafted people will play etc.
I only
hope that the Indian police force become a professional police force that acts
as an role model to the other forces in the world.
