Inamdar’s transfer is disturbing

What the people expect from any elected government is good governance. In the realm of security, good governance implies laying down of policies for better policing, ensuring that all culprits are quickly apprehended and brought to trial and punished, that order is maintained on the streets and that traffic moves freely. It means monitoring the work of the law and order forces. It does not entail the arbitrary use of the power of transfers to show the world who is in charge of the police and it does not mean direct involvement in running the force which is a task best left to professionals.

Chhagan Bhujbal however is not conversant with these principles. The previous government, learnt its lessons the hard way and stopped interfering with the police administration at the later stages of its reign. This happened when the merchants and traders of the city rose in aform of revolt by threatening not to pay their taxes or cooperate with the government in case their lives and property were not protected from extortionists and gangsters. At that time the CM and the Dy. CM agreed under duress to leave the running of the force to the professional police leaders and to refrain from threatening them with transfers. With operational independence for the police there was immediate improvement in the security climate.

The first thing that Chhagan Bhujbal did on assuming office as Minister incharge of the police was to transfer some of the senior officers at the second level of the hierarchy. He effected these transfers when the DGP Arvind Inamdar was in Seoul, Korea, attending an Interpol Conference. He was in such a hurry to show his authority that he did not wait to consult the DGP even for form’s sake. Inamdar was naturally disturbed. As a leader of men and as a person with dignity and self-respect, he protested. The protest was not appreciated. On the contrary, it appears tohave formed the basis for Bhujbal’s dislike for this upright and daring officer.

After this episode, the Home Department sent a list to the DGP of two hundred Junior Officers who wanted to be transferred to places of their choice. All police leaders know that transfers effected on the basis of requests from political leaders are the biggest source of corruption and indiscipline in the police force. Inamdar did not agree to contribute to this decline in police standards and morals. His vision has always been of a professional force based on merit and performance. Unfortunately, this did not fit in with the thinking of the new government which obviously felt that it is more important to distribute favours to individual politicians and police officers than preserving the fabric of a crucial organization like the police.

A third confrontation arose last week when the government stated its intention of empowering officers junior to the DGP to report directly to the Minister of State for Home on mattersconcerning the reorganization and performance of the force without routing their recommendations through their chief. No self-respecting leader would countenance such a move which was obviously meant to clip his wings but would in effect sow the seeds of confusion and distrust in the senior echelons. It was at this stage that Inamdar voiced his inability of continuing as the Chief if his own authority was to be bypassed in this manner.

Inamdar is known to be a very vocal officer with strong views. His integrity is unquestioned. In fact, if he has a fault, it is that he is intolerant of corruption and incompetence. He could have been move tactful with such elements in the force. If his style of management was different he could have extracted the best out of even the undesirable officers while at the same time keeping their activities in check.

With his departure from the scene, the police force as well as the people will suffer. Inamdar was a champion of the lowest ranks of the police and used to propoundtheir cause at every forum. There are not many senior officers who bother about their juniors, least of all those at the lowest rank of the ladder. They are so involved with their own personal advancement and in politicking that they forget that their success can only come if they carry the constabulary with them in the department’s quest for success.

Now that Bhujbal has had his say and has pleased himself by removing Inamdar from the top job, it is for the people to ensure that they do not suffer in any manner due to the personal foibles of the minister. The people are entitled to good policing and they must be vigilant to ensure that they get it. Citizens groups in various towns and cities and localities should monitor the performance of the police, just as they should watch the work of the other departments of government, like the municipalities. It is time for the people to assert their rights and not rely on an uncaring set of politicians and bureaucrats who like John of England in the 13th centuryhave the wrong impression that the authority vested in government means unbridled power.