Police Reforms

India's internal problems are increasing due to extremism and Naxalism (Maoist insurgency). It has also to contend with the threat of infiltration. To confound matters, police officers are unable to function freely due to political pressure.

The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P. Chidambaram both drew attention to these problems at a conference of directors general and inspectors general of police.

The police are clearly facing challenges from all sides. It is necessary to make the police efficient and perceptive. This cannot be possible without joint effort of the Union and State Governments. But law and order being a state subject, they are unwilling to brook any interference by the central authorities in their right. They fail to realize that when the situation gets out of control, it is the Union Government that has ultimately to bear the responsibility. State and federal governments do not obviously see eye-to-eye on the internal security problem. This in turn is giving opportunity to criminals and anarchical forces to thrive.

Undeniable Fact
This difference between the two sets of government was quite evident during the Ishrat Jahan case in Gujarat, and in the Lalgarh issue of West Bengal. It is this situation that had impelled the Home Minister to advise police chiefs to object to frequent transfers of their officers. It is an undeniable fact that State Governments transfer police officers on the pretext of their inefficiency or of meeting needs of time.

Yet, if an officer of Uttar Pradesh is transferred within four months, it is certainly not due to his ineptitude. It smells of corruption, bias, and favoritism. The Home Minister's statement that state governments spend only the leftover of their budgets on police is quite significant. How can the state police force function efficiently in such a situation?

Assigning More Responsibilities
The Prime Minister went a step further than the home minister to assign more responsibilities to the police. He expects the force to keep an eye on internal and external activities that might affect the country's security.

The Prime Minister also urged them to understand the real causes of incidents that are drawing more and more youth to extremism. In other words, he wants the police to become an efficient and autonomous wing of the democratic structure and to have greater involvement. His statement clearly recommends reforms in the police system.