Pune: “After Independence, we have become leaders in several fields like IT, space, military power, but when it comes to police, instead of becoming pro-people it has turned into a regressive force. No political party wants to change the system as it suits to put opposition leaders behind bars at will,” said Prakash Singh, former director general of police of Assam and Uttar Pradesh.
He was speaking at a seminar on ‘Better Policing’ organised by NGO Public Concern for Governance Trust at Navalmal Firodia Law College on Tuesday.
Singh, who is known for filing the PIL in the Supreme Court for police reforms, talked about reforms need in the Indian police system.
“After 10 years of proceedings, the SC gave a progressive judgment in 2006 about changes required in the department.
However, none of the states have fully implemented the recommendations of the SC. Not even the Central government which should have taken the lead in creating a model police force,” he added.
He appealed to law students to file PILs in their state high courts for implementation of the SC guidelines.
Addressing several police officers present in the audience, Singh said, “You don’t have to depend on state government for bringing changes like promptly registering cases after getting complaints. Change the ambiance of police stations so that whenever a person goes he is confident of getting justice.
“Better policing would mean prompt response, honestly visiting the crime spot and investigating it properly, using whatever resources you have, being committed, sensitive and most importantly a better human being.”
Former DGP (special operations) Jayant Umranikar, who has authored a book, ‘Police Reforms In India: A Sisyphean Saga’, said, “There are hundreds of flaws in the statutes.
“These flaws have diluted the core functioning of policing. The state-wide hierarchy of policing imposes organisational pyramid which makes individual police units impervious to local needs.
“The committee-oriented policing initiatives gets dissipated after an individual officer gets transferred. Inadequate legislation has handicapped them in dealing with new challenges of trans-border terrorism, inter-state or transnational cyber crimes.”
