Journalism of Courage
Why is a visit to a police station seldom a good experience? Why are you frowned upon when uniformed police personnel visit your home? Answers to these and other uncomfortable questions can be now found in a well-reserached book penned by a man well equipped to address them all. Retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Jayant Umranikar’s ‘Police Reforms in India’ is both a field guide and do-it-yourself manual for the gigantic task of bringing about the much needed change in the way the police force is perceived by the public-and vice-versa.
The book written by Umranikar is an outcome of the detailed study of the functional review of the police department done by him and published by the Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration (YASHADA),Pune and Ford Foundation,New Delhi. Umranikar calls the task of police reforms a Sisyphean Saga. Greek mythological king Sisyphus was punished and told to roll a huge rock to top of a steep hill. Before he could reach the hill,the rock would roll back down all the time, smiles Umranikar.
He points out that the use of the term police force,suggests that it is military in nature. When we refer to police as police service,the meaning and perception completely changes. It must be understood that there is no alternative to the discipline and rules,as it is a uniformed organisation. But there has to be a change in the way police look at their duties.
The book stresses that police reforms are not possible in isolation. The political leadership,bureaucracy,judicial system and even the prison department will have to undergo a change. One of the most important reasons behind the phenomenon of recidivism criminals repeatedly committing crimes is the delay in justice delivery system,which allows the accused to commit a crime even after the arrest till the verdict is delivered. He says.
The book analyzes in detail,the deliberations of the National Police Commission and various committees set up for the police reforms. Umranikar,who was Pune’s police commissioner for two years,has also analysed various studies on police reforms done at Aurangabad,Pune and Mumbai. The book has been concluded with a reference to bureaucracy saying that,’A lot will depend on the much vaunted steel frame (a term used for the bureaucracy),that has deteriorated to become a still frame.’ It also has a detailed chapter on the history of the police force.
One of the most important obstacles in the way police reforms is the bureaucracy and the political leaders. Police have always been used as the instrument of exploitation and power by these two organs. For example,police intelligence agencies have always been used to gather anti-government activities. Empowering the police and giving them autonomy will part them from the powers. So the very stake holders are weary of the reforms. When asked about his prescription for the police reforms he says,Functional autonomy,strong intelligence system and a manpower with state of art training. But every term used,has a large number of facets, he says. Umranikar is a post graduate in Organic Chemistry with a specialisation in Explosives- which probably also explains the analytical approach of the book.
The 1973 batch IPS officer,who spent a third of his career serving in the international organisations on deputation feels that there is also the need of a change in the way police looks at citizens. Much of the manpower in the police force is drawn from the rural areas in Maharashtra. These gaps need to be bridged. Indian police are the most educated of the police services in the world. We even have people who hold PhDs. There is also a need to inculcate the habit of pursuing academic interests during service, he adds.
