For quite some time the Government has been seized with the idea of ushering in phenomenal police reforms. Two reasons have catalyzed this thinking. One is that of bridging State police structurally as well as functionally at par with national police standards for the sake of universality of police services. The second is new challenges thrown up in the backdrop of two-decade long militancy and turmoil in the State. In the light of developing national integration scenario, it had become necessary for the State police to adjust to working system at par with police structures available in other states. Militancy fuelled by support from outside the state has brought to fore situations in which the state police had not adequate expertise of handling. For example, the question of handling mass protests and rallies with the use of minimum force and no fatalities has been almost a new phenomenon in which the state police had to upgrade and streamline its delivery.
The State Government has been very seriously considering major reforms in the police establishment that needs the nod from the legislature in order to give teeth to the new structure. As such, a bill has been drafted by the Government with input from police, judicial and administrative sources. The Act has been drafted and is ready to be placed before the legislature in its forthcoming session. Having brought up its odds and ends, the Government has now brought it to the public domain where legal experts, academics, NGOs and all stakeholders are free to express themselves on the clauses of the draft Act. It means that they need to study the clauses and sub-clauses of the draft bill very closely and make their views known to the Government within the specified time. The full text of the draft bill has been made public. We have also published in the columns of this paper the main features of the bill. Obviously the cities of Srinagar and Jammu will have Police Commissioners but they will be under the control of the DGP.
Included in police restructuring policy is the proposal for constituting Police Complaints Authority, State Security Commission, Police Establishment Board and Police Welfare Board. The Act also proposes separation of the Investigation wing of Police Department from the Law and Order wing for better management of affairs. The Act deals with the details of modus operandi for constituting these organs within the police establishment, their chairmanship, membership and the terms of reference and scope of jurisdiction. All these matters have been elaborated in detail. Separation of investigation wing from law and order wing, for example, will be an effective step in speeding up the investigation of a criminal case and bringing the accused to justice. The Act, when passed by the State Legislature, will be a landmark step in streamlining internal administration of police department and its functionality on the ground, It has been rightly said that the proposed draft Legislation is aimed at consolidating and amending the law relating to the establishment, regulation, power and duties of Police Service in the State and for matters connected therewith and incidental thereto. Moreover, efficient policing of the State but the police in the forefront of the duty of maintaining law and order. Our police personnel have shown remarkable efficiency in controlling situation arising out of militancy and incidents related to it.
But police reforms and streamlining of delivery have not to be seen only from the prism of militancy and unrest with which the State is faced for last two decades. The fact is that the country is going through big social and economic change. These changes demand that laws governing the activities of the Indian civil society have to be made commensurate with rising aspirations and requirements. J&K, as an integral part of the Union has her share of socio-economic development which, in turn, also brings to fore new problems and challenges. Police reforms have essentially to be seen from that prism. It shows that these reforms were long due and should have come much earlier. However, believing that better late than never, we expect the legislature to give its nod to the bill and thus create history of bringing state police at par with national level of police administration. Once it comes into force, the Act will not the last step bringing us to the goalpost. There might be the need of further reforms in the police structure with the passage of time. That is what the dynamics of social development dictates. But for the present, the Act will be an historical event bound to have wide impact on our polity.
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