Prof SK Bhalla
A lot of undesirable commotion is being engineered to create artificial fissures among the Civil and Police administration in J&K UT on recent shake up of 31 Deputy Superintendent of Police order issued by Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Mr. RK Goel. Branding the Government order No 176-Home dated 7/4/2023 dated as bad in taste, one former DGP, Mr S.P.Vaid in a series of tweets has termed it as an “attempt to weaken the authority of J&K Police Chief, Dilbagh Singh and the J&K Police Department”. Cautioning Home Minister of India, Shri Amit Shah as well as LG J&K UT, Shri Manoj Sinha, the ex cop further bemonaed that “repeated attempts by Civil administration to weaken the authority of Police Hqr and Police Chief has detrimental effect on morale of the rank and file of JKP”. The instant reaction of Mr. Vaid on the issue may have pleased a certain disgruntled elements in the UT who have developed penchant for cribbing on every initiative taken post 370 abrogation for revamping administrative system by the LG’s administration but as a matter of fact in a democratic setup, the civil administration has an edge over belt force in drafting policies for the larger public interest and effective policing at all levels. It is being talked in hush hush tone whether tweets of Mr. Vaid on DSPs transfer issue are his own or he is posting for somebody else. However, this huge policy decision appears to have been taken after taking into confidence both the PMO as well as HMO by LG’s as post revocation of 370, the PM Shri Narendra Modi is keenly watching every crucial development in J&K as our UT is very close to his heart.
Market is also abuzz with noises that for the past sometime some middlemen in transfer industry allegedly are striking deals for plum postings of DSPs and SHOs. This timely move of Home Department appears to be an attempt to stem the rot. Moreover, in our UT which is constantly an eyesore for hostile neighboring countries, the top cops are required to devise strategies in making J&K free from growing tentacles of narco terrorism which has assumed an alarming proportion due to tactical shift by Pakistan sponsored terrorists from arms to drugs. For better governance, the police is supposed to act in consonance with the civil administration and the might of police is in no way going to shattered merely with slight administrative shift in transfer of DSPs and conduct of examination for recruitment of Sub Inspectors as those transferred/replaced belong to the same police department. In the same breath, it is imperative for Home Department that prior to finalizing the postings of DSPs and other senior rank police officers, the stress should be laid on analyzing their dossiers so as to curb the prevailing practice of repetition of blue eyed from one place to another.
Similarly, the police headquarter instead of worrying more about what has been snatched out from their kitty should honed investigating skills of SHOs and IOs so as to prepare them to tackle crimes which is fast changing its tactics . Ways and means need to be devised to effectively cracked high-tech crimes especially Pak sponsored narco terrorism which is running rampant in nook and corner of the UT at an alarming pace. The recent revelation of data of druggists in J&K UT by Parliament is just a tip of an iceberg and its modus operandi of sale and supply is not only complicated but also well organized and cracking the same needs professional SHOs instead of yes-man stooges who are often seen in company of property dealers rather than working in letter and spirit on ground to check sprawling anti-social activities in their respective jurisdiction. In the same breath, the police administration must also also revamp its old and outdated practice of repeating the same set of identified Inspectors as SHOs from from one place to another despite the fact that most of them even are not fit to be in service on the strength of their inefficiency in curbing the menace of drug cartels, prostitution, social crimes etc. Recent outburst by Jammu Mayor is also an eye opener. Therefore, there is urgent need to rotate vast force of 1500 inspectors in 17 wings of police department besides deputation to NIA, ED and CBI to end prevailing practice of rotating identified set of blue eyed as SHOs for the betterment of society.
To sum up, let the retired paraphernalia instead of pitching for shadow boxing between police and civil administration on inevitable administrative reforms, they should spend their post retirement time on societal issues which if not being raised by the elders in its right perspective would proved to be a doom for our future generations.
(The author of the artcile is a retired Principal from HED and views expressed are his own)