Twenty-five years of militancy is a long time and a trying time for the Police Department to fight it, including its ramifications. Going by the desk book rules of police force, we understand that its main task is to maintain law and order in a State and help in implementing the policy and plans of the Government. It has to deal with the public whose mood is unpredictable by and large. But the police are not expected to fight militancy at such a wide scale and to such intensity as it has been fighting for all these two decades and more. In fact the police, along with the army and other security forces, have been fighting a low intensity war, something for which it was never trained nor expected to deal with. Therefore, we must give full credit to the officers and other ranks of the police force that have laid a glorious tradition of service to the nation. We pay homage to the police personnel who laid down their precious lives in the course of performing duty of stemming the tide of militancy in State.
But what the police has been through all these years and the criminality which militancy has generated, it has become unavoidable to consider the reorganization of the entire police structure so that its efficacy in maintaining law and order is enhanced. It was in this background that the House Panel on re-organization of existing Police Stations and creation of new ones including the setting up of special Traffic Police Stations along the National Highway made its recommendations. There was good deal of deliberation at proper level in which senior police officers also participated and then the suggestions were made. These included having more police stations and police posts to cater to the needs of various areas where access to police stations was somewhat difficult. The Panel had suggested that there is not uniformity among the jurisdiction of police stations as some were overlapping and others were expanded over a vast area that was not physically within the reach of the police personnel as quickly as it should have been. The recommendation was to rationalise the existing police stations and on that basis open more stations and police posts so that administration of law and order gets streamlined.
In addition to this, the Penal has recommended that since road accidents happen too often along the National Highway, it would be feasible to open Traffic Police Stations along the National Highway from Jammu to Srinagar. The Traffic Police Department has usually come under severe criticism for its failure to check the growing incidents of road accidents. This suggestion was welcomed by the Police Headquarter as it would go a long way in controlling the mishaps or if these happen, the follow up action would be undertaken speedily. It will be reminded here that the scheme of mobile medical vans along the Highway was also recommended but these have not been provided owing to some dispute between the department and the contractor who was to supply the vehicles.
But all these recommendations and suggestions are locked in the files and put in cold store. It seems that the Government has not taken any step towards the implementation of these recommendations. Maybe the Government has financial constraints because opening new police stations and posts and also traffic stations means lots of funds which the Government has not at its disposal. We do agree that after all every restructuring depends on the availability of funds. But what can be done is to accept the inevitability of reorganizing the police structure. The Government can do it through small beginning. Instead of drawing the big plan let there be small beginning and in due course of time it will expand. The point is that militancy has not come to an end and crimes are on increase because crime mentality is closely linked to militancy. At the same time road accidents are also showing no relent. These exigencies have to be met and it should be possible for the Government to make readjustments and make a fraction of the total expenditure available.
We hope that authorities will pull out the recommendations of the House Panel and reopen the issue so that a beginning is made somewhere. It makes no sense of keeping the files to collect dust while law and order in the State is of vital importance to be taken care of.
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