People's Democracy
(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
No. 16
April 21, 2013
|
Vol. XXXVII
No. 16 April 21, 2013 |
MANIK SARKAR ON
ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS Approach has to be
Pro-People, More Participatory Below we reproduce
slightly abridged and edited text of the
presentation which Manik Sarkar, chief
minister of the Left Front government of Tripura,
made at the Conference of
Chief Ministers on the fifth report of the
Administrative Reforms Commission.
The conference was held at Vigyan Bhawan, I
AM happy to be here to
present views of the State Government on Administrative
Reforms Commission’s fifth
report titled “Public Order: Justice for Each, Peace for
All.” At
the outset, I would
like to mention that maintaining public order and rule
of law is the sovereign
duty of a democratically elected government. Both these
issues are intertwined
and intractably linked. BASIC SYSTEMIC REFORMS NEEDED It
is through fair,
transparent and effective enforcement of law that public
order could be
maintained. Inadequacies of law, its weak enforcement,
the tardy judicial processes,
lack of legislative foresight, administrative
inefficiency and lack of proper awareness
of the common citizens are some of the factors which
have an adverse bearing on
public order. Therefore, it is the responsibility of all
the wings of
democratic set-up that public order is sustained. The
policing system plays
a vital role in maintaining public order. With changed
social behaviour, the
police and other law enforcement agencies are to meet
the needs of diverse
segments of society. For this, we need to revisit the
approach and style of
functioning of the police. In fact, the approach has to
be pro-people, more of participatory
and community policing. An
expeditious, effective
and fair judicial system is crucial for maintaining
public order. In fact, efficacy
of judicial system is determined by its capacity to
deliver justice to all.
Therefore, necessary judicial reforms should be brought
in to further improve
the criminal justice system such that it inspires
confidence among the masses. As
has been rightly
highlighted by the fifth report of ARC on public order,
there is a need for
systemic reforms in policing, legal framework and
investigation methods. With
this background, I would like to mention that the state
is committed to provide
enabling environment to the police to make it function
impartially with an inclusive
approach such that constitutional objectives of
protecting civil, political and
economic rights are upheld. ON THE MAJOR RECOMMENDATIONS The
state has given
specific comments on the recommendations of the
commission. However, I would
like to deliberate upon some of the major
recommendations of the commission. These
are as below. 1)
Issue of Separation of Investigation from
Other Functions: In fact,
in our state, provision has been incorporated in section
50 of Tripura Police
Act 2007 for separating investigation from other
functions. In nine police
stations where the registration of the case is
relatively high, separate
investigation cells have been created. However, we do
not feel the need for a
separate crime investigation agency in the state,
considering the size and
population of the state. 2)
Accountability of Law and Order Machinery:
The state government supports
the recommendation for accountability of the police. In
this connection it is
indicated that two bodies, namely the State Police Board
and the Police Accountability
Commission, have been constituted as per provision of
Section 20 and 59,
respectively, of Tripura Police Act 2007. We feel that
the existing arrangement
in the state is appropriate to ensure a higher degree of
accountability. 3)
Police Establishment Committees: In
Tripura, a Police Establishment
Committee, which is headed by director general of
police, has been constituted
under Section 27 of Tripura Police Act 2007. The system
is functioning well.
Further, considering the profile of the state, we do not
feel the need for district
level establishment committees at this stage. 4)
Transfers and Postings: The transfer of
non-gazetted officers
within the range is carried out by the concerned range
DIG. All inter-district
transfers are carried out from police headquarters. The
tenure of all key
police functionaries up to the rank of SP has been kept
at minimum of two years
and maximum of three years as per Section 11 of Tripura
Police Act 2007. The arrangement
is serving the purpose quite well and as such we do not
feel the need to alter
it at the moment. 5)
Competent Prosecution and Guidance to
Investigation: The
recommendations of having a district attorney are not in
tune with
recommendations of Malimath committee and Law Commission
of 6)
Empowering the ‘Cutting Edge’ Functionaries:
Keeping in view the
socio-economic scenario of the state, we do not support
the recommendation of substituting
the existing system of constabulary with graduate ASIs.
While we may encourage the
entry of more qualified personnel in police, the
existing opening for youths in
constabulary cannot be closed. 7)
Welfare Measures for the Police: The state
is sensitive to the need
for meaningful welfare measures for police personnel,
especially of the lower formations.
We request the central government to consider a special
package under MoPF
scheme to cover all the ranks and personnel below SI for
housing. 8)
Improvement of Forensic Science
Infrastructure, Professionalisation
of Investigation: The state
is in agreement with the recommendation regarding
professionalisation of
investigation and improvement of forensic science
infrastructure. A forensic
science laboratory has been set up in the state, which
is under the
administrative control of the Home Department. Efforts
are being made to
strengthen the infrastructure by acquiring state of art
equipments which would
aid the investigating agency in presenting evidence
before the court. 9)
Strengthening Intelligence
Gathering: The state government supports the
recommendation for
strengthening the intelligence gathering apparatus. The
Ministry of Home
Affairs may take proactive steps for modernising the
state intelligence units.
Human intelligence should be combined with information
derived from diverse
sources with the focus on increased use of technology.
We also support the
recommendation of giving proper protection to the
informants. 10)
Training of the Police: The recommendation
for enhancement of
facilities and allowances for deputation to training
institutions has merit.
The state government would take a view in this regard
keeping in view the need
for attracting better talent in training institutes. 11)
Gender Issues in Policing: The state
government supports the
recommendation of the commission for more gender
sensitive policing. For this,
the state feels that the composition of women personnel
in police should be
raised at least to 10 per cent at the moment which could
be subsequently enhanced. 12)
Crimes against Vulnerable Sections:
Atrocities upon the scheduled
castes and scheduled tribes are not an issue in the
state. Having said that,
the state supports the need for sensitising the
administration and police
towards the special problems of the scheduled castes and
scheduled tribes. 13)
Union-State and Inter-Sate Cooperation and
Coordination: The state agrees
that the Ministry of Home Affairs should proactively and
in consultation with
the states, evolve formal institutions and protocols for
effective coordination
between the union and the states and among the states.
These protocols should
cover issues like information and intelligence sharing,
joint investigation,
joint operations, inter-state operations by a state
police in another state,
regional cooperation mechanisms and the safeguards
required. 14)
Measures to be Taken during Peace Time:
The state government supports
the recommendation for responsive, transparent, vigilant
and fair administration
in dealing with all sections of society. The state does
have mechanisms such as
“peace committees” to ease tensions and promote harmony.
As recommended by the commission,
the state government already has a system of a micro
analysis for identifying
sensitive spots in terms of threat perception. 15)
Regulating Processions, Demonstrations and
Gatherings: The state
has no objection to the recommendation for evolving
comprehensive guidelines on
handling gathering, processions and demonstration. This
could be done keeping
in view the past experience, the recommendations of
various commissions of
Inquiry and pronouncements of the honourable courts. 16)
Citizen Friendly Registration of Crimes:
The state agrees to the recommendation
for having a citizen friendly system for registering
crime. Technology should
be used to improve the accessibility of police stations
to the public. In fact,
the state is actively implementing the CCTNS project
gradually, which would add
to the citizen friendly interface of the police in terms
of registration and
follow up action on crime 17)
Witness Protection and Victim Protection:
The state agrees to the recommendation
of having a statutory framework for guaranteeing
anonymity of witnesses and for
witness protection in specified types of cases. For
this, a model draft could
be framed by the central government which could be
shared with the state governments
for consultation. 18)
Prison Reforms: The state agrees to the
recommendations that the union
and state governments should work out, fund and
implement at the earliest,
modernisation and reforms of the prison system as
recommended by the All India
Committee on Jail Reforms (1980-83). The Jail Department
of the state has
already implemented Phase I of the Modernisation of
Prisons Scheme. 19)
Obligations of the 20)
Federal Crimes: The recommendation of the
commission for
re-examining certain offences which have inter-state or
national ramification
and include them in a new law could be further acted
upon by the central
government with concurrence and views of the state
government on the procedural
and operational aspects. The enforcement of any such law
has to be with active involvement
of state police. Crimes like terrorism, arms trafficking
and serious economic
offences could be covered under an umbrella legislation.
This, however, should
be formulated in consultation with the states. 21)
The Role of Civil Society and Media in Public
Order: The state
government agrees to the vital role of civil society and
media in maintaining public
order. In this regard, the state is already using PRAYAS
platform for synergy
and coordination between police and civil society
groups. This is done at beat
level. All efforts are made by the police and
administration to keep media
informed of the developments having bearing on public
order. ON THE STATE SPECIFIC ISSUES I
take this opportunity to
draw attention of the home minister on certain state
specific issues which have
considerable bearing on the subject under consideration.
These are as below. 1)
The state is facing an acute
shortage of officers of All India Services, particularly
the Indian Police
Service. As such, manning various important posts is
becoming difficult. To
illustrate, as against 46 direct recruit posts in the
cadre, at present we are
having only 34 Officers. Out of 34, 18 IPS officers are
posted outside the state
and 16 are posted in the state. We are facing a peculiar
situation as the
period of deputation of officers, who are on central
deputation, particularly
in organisations like IB, CBI and Cabinet Secretariat,
is being extended beyond
the normal period of deputation of five years, which is
posing serious
constraints in manning important posts in the state
government. I would request
that the guidelines on the central deputation may be
suitably amended so that
the officer is released on completion of his tenure and
no extension is
permitted without prior approval of the state
government. Similar action may
also be taken in respect of Indian Administrative
Service officers. 2)
Use of the Assam Rifles
ground, located in the heart of Agartala city, for
promotion of sports has been
an important and emotional issue for the people,
particularly for the students
and youth of the state. This ground, which is under
occupation of the Assam
Rifles, was used for holding important sports events
prior to 1971 Indo-Pak
war. It is now being only allowed to be used for the
Republic Day and the
Independence Day functions at present. The state
government has requested the
Ministry of Home Affairs for sparing this land so that
it can be used for
development of a sports complex with modern facilities
for promotion of games
and sports as part of the integrated strategy for
tackling insurgency in an
effective manner and channelising the youth energy for
constructive purposes.
Initially, the Ministry of Home Affairs asked the state
government for payment
of Rs 323 crore. Subsequently, they asked for
alternative land for the Assam
Rifles along with other conditions. The state government
has already identified
more than one plot of land in this regard. But still
there is no progress. The
handing over the Assam Rifles ground to the state
government deserves to be
expedited. 3)
The continuous presence
for over fifteen years of approximately 41,468 Reang
refugees from Mizoram has
been a matter of concern to Tripura. This has its own
socio-economic and law
and order implications. The state government is
providing necessary support for
early repatriation of these families. However, the
process has been extremely
slow. The intervention of the union Home Ministry is
sought for ensuring that
the Bru migrants are repatriated to their original place
of residence at the
earliest. 4)
The state government
attaches high priority to development of basic
infrastructure and sustaining
our development initiatives. However, the state is
facing hardship in getting
land for undertaking development projects for provision
of education, health
and other facilities to the people. With rapid
urbanisation, population of
Agartala city, the state capital, has been growing
rapidly. However, about
1774.6 acre of land, in close proximity to the city, is
recorded in the name of
the Ministry of Defence long back, out of which only
235.87 acre is being utilised
at present. We have requested the Ministry of Defence
for sparing a portion of
the land, measuring about 115.7 acre, adjacent to the
new capital complex
housing the secretariat, the assembly and the High
Court, for setting up basic
infrastructure required for development of the city.
Further, the ammunition
dump and other defence installations are required to be
relocated to a safer
distance from the new capital complex. In
the end, I would
request the home minister to consider the issues raised
by the state while
formulating action plan on the recommendations of
Administrative Reforms
Commission.
