Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee rightly expressed anguish over the traffic hazards In New Delhi caused by the agencies looking after his security. The situation has only worsened. In Rajiv Gandhi’s days, traffic stoppages lasted about four minutes; now, they last for a good 10 minutes. Earlier, we had only two VVIPs: the President and the Prime Minister. Now we have two more: the Deputy Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. One can’t really blame the VIPs for the fact that the problem has only gotten worse. In the post-9/11 scenario, security concerns are understandable, but security agencies and the Delhi police should have evolved a system to ensure maximum security and minimum hassles for the public. In the US, traffic flows undisturbed along the fences of the White House. When our Prime Minister visits the United States, I have seen his cavalcade moving with only 12 security motorcycles. Four of them would move two minutes ahead and block the traffic; four would accompany the VVIP car and the remaining four would follow as a back up. At no point was traffic affected for more than three minutes. Unfortunately, security here is based on the archaic concept of restricting physical movement. So all security agencies do is block all roads and lanes in the vicinity and try to insulate the cavalcades. Recent intrusions prove that such attempts don’t work. I don’t blame the innocent motorists or cyclists who inadvertently drove ahead of the VVIP motorcades. Lack of specific training and co-ordination make the constables on duty panic every time they are told a convoy is approaching and they react in haste, creating sheer chaos. Why, even at functions attended by VVIPs, security agencies don’t spare people whose identities are well known and make them leave their cars half a kilometre away from the venue. Like in the West, we should depend more on intelligence inputs and less on physical restriction. In today’s hi-tech world, residents of the nation’s Capital deserve a bit more sophistication from the government agencies. Particularly when it involves not only their freedom of movement but also the security of the country’s top VVIPs. Fear of Flying The MiG-21 aircraft has more than justified its ‘‘flying coffins’’ label. In the last five years, more than 60 pilots have been killed. Over 150 aircraft have crashed, causing a loss of approximately Rs 7,000 crore. Inadequate training and the absence of Advanced Jet Trainers are the main reasons for the spate of crashes. The frequent recurrence of such accidents not only endangers our national security but also adversely affects the morale of the pilot. We must give due importance to the demand of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, contained in its 29th Report, that MiG21s should be phased out immediately. But the IAF top brass — including Air Chiefs S. Krishnaswamy and A.Y. Tipnis — has been categorical that the MiG variants are still fit to fly. In fact, many experts claim that the MiG-21 is indeed safer to fly than its other variants. While there can be debates over the worthiness of MiG-21s, we cannot discount the fact that these planes have been tumbling out of the sky far too often for comfort. At any rate, its accident rate is higher than other twin-engine fighter aircraft like the Jaguar. The real problem, perhaps, lies with inadequate training of pilots. In the absence of a suitable advanced jet trainer, most pilots get their training on subsonic aircrafts. When they’re tasked with flying the MiG, they find it difficult to handle. Our indigenous Light Combat Aircraft has been successfully tested but it will take time before it can be effectively inducted. Cost factors and post-Pokhran sanctions have delayed the process. Fortunately, the Indian Air Force has opted for the Intermediate Jet Trainer, being indigenously built by HAL. In the interim, the Cabinet should take a decision on the purchase of AJTs. We can’t play with the lives of our young pilots any more. Stirring the POTA Pot The controversy over imposing POTA on Raja Bhaiyya is justified and the Centre must look into the justification — or its lack — of the Mayawati government’s move. Raja Bhaiyya may have a criminal past but it is debatable if he can be construed to be a terrorist threat to the nation. Meanwhile, look at what BJP leader Kalraj Mishra had to say: in a TV interview, he said that Raja Bhaiyya was a criminal but not a traitor! Yet, one must not lose sight of a certain skeleton recovered from a certain pond in Beti village; one must not forget that one Santosh Mishra was beaten blue and black before he was allegedly dumped into the same pond. Mishra reportedly paid the price for overtaking Raja Bhaiyya’s convoy. While this case should be investigated, the judiciary should also look at the mysterious elimination of Rajendra Yadav, the only eyewitness of Mishra’s murder. (The writer is a Rajya Sabha MP)
