Bill tabled for a ‘monumental’ force

As first reported by The Indian Express,the new force will be headed by the Director General of Police and protect 10 monuments,of which nine are located in Lucknow and one in Gautam Buddha Nagar.

In the first phase,only one battalion will be raised,which will cause a financial burden of Rs 67 crore. However,the recurring expenditure will be Rs 14 crore annually.

The jawans of the proposed force will have the power to arrest any person without warrant or without the orders of the magistrate if he is found to be trying to cause harm to the monuments or creates obstruction for the jawans in discharging their duty,or threatens to damage the monument.

The jawans will,without delay,hand over the arrested person to a police officer or take the person to the nearest police station and submit a report on the cause of arrest. They will also have the power to frisk any person.

The members of the force will be forbidden from writing a book,make any publication,or have any communication with the media without the permission of competent authority.

The force will guard Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Sthal,which also includes public utilities and administrative building,Dr Ambedkar Vihar,Samajik Parivartan Pratik Sthal,Manyawar Kanshiramji Smarak Sthal,Kanshiram Vishram Sthal at 13 Mall Avenue,Manyawar Kanshiram Ji Harit (eco) Park,Ramabai Ambedkar Maidan,Buddha Vihar Shanti Upvan and Smriti Upvan,all in Lucknow,and Gautam Buddha Samta Moolak Sthal at Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida).

According to the aims and objective of the Bill,“The memorials and the parks are important places in the state. For ensuring their security,it is necessary to declare those areas as special zones and adequate arrangements should be made for their security.”

“It has been decided to enact a law for the constitution of a special armed force and for the regulation of the designated authority and its employees,it added.

The Bill defines a special zone “an area declared by the state government where statues of social,environmental and aesthetics importance are situated”.

The new force will have the whole of Uttar Pradesh under its jurisdiction.

Upkeep of memorials: SC reserves order
The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved for final orders a request by the Uttar Pradesh government to clean and maintain five memorial sites of Dalit icons built on public money,amidst apprehensions that the government may resume construction work on the pretext of upkeep.

A Division Bench of Justices H S Bedi and A K Patnaik attempted to allay fears expressed in open court that the state government was trying to slip in “structural changes” on the monuments. The Bench assured that they would “sit together” and pore over the affidavit filed on Thursday by the state government which lists the nature of work it intends to do.

The Mayawati government,through Agriculture Production Commissioner V K Sharma,swore in the affidavit that “no new structure would be made or added in any of the properties” — Kanshiram Smarak Sthal,Ramabhai Ambedkar Maidan,Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Sthal,Samajik Parivartan Sangrahalaya,Pratibimb Sthal and Pyramid or the Drishya Sthal.

“Day to day maintenance/repairs of all the properties including removal of unutilised construction material/equipment,sanitation and cleaning,lighting of the sites,levelling of grounds,filling of trenches,landscaping and removal of defects are required to be carried out…” the affidavit said.

Sharma’s affidavit comes a day after the Supreme Court observed that “whatever monuments erected should not look dirty” and in an obvious softening of its former stand indicated that there was no harm in carrying out maintenance work of the structures worth Rs 2,600 crore of tax-payers’ money. The court had asked UP government counsel Harish Salve to file the affidavit,detailing the exact nature of maintenance work it planned at the site. This was seen as a complete turnabout of the apex court’s stance on September 11,2009,when it ordered immediate halt of all construction activities at the memorial park and warned Chief Minister Mayawati against “playing with fire” by carrying on construction activities on the pretext of doing maintenance work.

The list of structural defects which the state wants to remedy includes variation in level and alignment of stone pieces,variations in colour of sandstone which have to be replaced,repair of cracks on the stone walls in all five memorials,and realignment of murals placed in the gallery at the Ambedkar Sthal,Samajik Parivartan Sangrahalaya and Drishya Sthal.