States of disorder

As Rajasthan starts ISO certification for police stations, debate must shift to police reform.

A large number of states will face elections in 2008. Knowing politicians, it is unlikely that electoral battles will be fought over development and reforms. But if such a battle were indeed fought, the debate will be about what one means by reforms and role of the government in ensuring development. Contrary to what simple assertions suggest, reforms aren’t about polar opposites of state versus market. Instead, the debate is about what the state should do, beyond regulating the market. Governments evolved, and individuals willingly submitted themselves to public norms, because of the need for security and safety. That is, core function of any government has to be preservation of law and order and resolving disputes, not producing cement, cycles and condoms. One can add to that financing, if not provisioning, of some physical (roads, electricity, drinking and irrigation water) and social (primary health centres, rural schools) infrastructure. This is the ‘bipasa’ (bijli, pani, sadak) agenda and, regardless of what specific political parties profess, it is the aam aadmi agenda. If rule of law is a key governance function, why isn’t it on any politician’s reform agenda? Let’s be more specific. Access to justice occurs in reform agendas.

Take the Bible of UPA policy, the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP). “The UPA government will take the leadership role to drastically cut delays in high courts and lower levels of the judiciary. Legal aid services will be expanded. Judicial reforms will be given a fresh momentum.” NCMP, and World Bank reports, do flag access to justice, interpreted as courts and within that, civil cases. However, two-thirds of judicial backlog are criminal cases and these involve not just courts, but the police too.

Here is a quote from the Assam Police website. “Police profession of late has been seen as an instrument of hatred, corruption, suppression of freedom, violation of human rights and dignities… thanks to the propaganda unleashed about this profession by various frustrated and motivated elements as also the negative projection of this service by the electronic and print media.”

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This isn’t irresponsible media reporting, or Bollywood imagery. In a 2007 global report, Transparency International’s (TI) India survey found 72 per cent of respondents felt the police was corrupt. Political parties were marginally ahead, and other public services ranked much lower. In a 2005 India-specific survey, TI reported police as most corrupt among 11 public services. 88 per cent perceived police to be corrupt.

If courts don’t deliver, the poor opt out and look for alternative mechanisms for dispute resolution. If police don’t deliver, the benign influence of police doesn’t exist in ensuring access to justice and enforcement of rights and the poor opt out again. However, this doesn’t protect against the malign influence of police through harassment, especially in urban and semi-urban areas. In 1999, before WDR (World Development Report) 2000-01, World Bank did some consultations with Indian poor. When reporting findings, there was a box titled ‘Police: A Licensed Evil’. “In nearly all the sites visited in the course of consultations with the poor in India, the police service was unanimously lambasted for its inefficiency, corruption and disruptive role in the society… It is a common practice for the policemen to engage in harassment, extortion and black-mailing, and their threat prevents the poor from leading a peaceful life. Often, the policemen are stated to apprehend people for petty reasons, and set them free after charging unreasonable ransoms.” Manushi’s findings in the late 1990s were identical. The system hurts the poor the most and isn’t distributionally neutral. Yet, despite concern over aam aadmi, police reform doesn’t find mention in NCMP.

The argument that police is a state subject won’t wash. There are plenty of other state and concurrent subjects in NCMP. If nothing else, the Centre can incentivise reforms. But, if you are a private and rich entity, you can privatise the police function through security guards. And if you are within the government, broadly defined, you either know how to work the system, or if sufficiently high up, have quasi-privatised through NSG and SPG. The poor disappear from the discourse, even though such reforms aren’t contentious, unlike opening retail, insurance, banking or pensions. The Left won’t object either, since they believe in privatising law and order and security through the party system.

Everyone knows the Police Act of 1861 is colonial and old and needs revamping. We had the National Police Commission, with eight reports between 1979 and 1981. Following a PIL (the Prakash Singh case) with Supreme Court in 1996 (final judgment in 2006), there was the Ribeiro Committee, with two reports in 1998/99. There was the Padmanabhaiah Committee in 2000. Tangentially, there was the Malimath Committee in 2001-03 and a Review Committee in 2004-05. Finally, there was Soli Sorabjee’s Police Act Drafting Committee in 2005-06. By December 31, 2006, the Centre and states were supposed to comply with Supreme Court directives. However, if you read compliance reports, you find most states, and certainly the Centre, have ducked. What with ensuring reservations for minorities and recommending Padma awards, where does Home Minister have the time?

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Disgusted with this Delhi dilemma, one should travel to more salubrious climes. One doesn’t have to travel far, Jaipur and Rajasthan will do. But one shouldn’t go there for usual tourist trips. Home Ministry’s active interest would have amounted to open heart surgery. Rajasthan shows what bypass can achieve. Did you know that Netherlands-based Altus Global Alliance (AGA) ranks police stations across the world? A large number of countries aren’t covered — only 23, but the list includes Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, the UK and the US. Out of 450 global police stations, did you know that Jaipur’s Shipra Path was rated the best? (There is also Palakkad in Kerala with a high rating.) I will not even attempt to describe what you see in Vidhayakpuri police station in Jaipur. Take the trip or check out the website, especially sections on community involvement. Have you heard of police stations with ISO certification? There are 711 police stations in Rajasthan — 42 already have ISO certificates and 164 are in the process of getting them. MIT and the Poverty Action Lab are working with Rajasthan police to improve public perception and performance. The BJP should win in Rajasthan only for this, even if one forgets Resurgent Rajasthan policies of roads, power, water, industry, IT, tourism and natural resources. And there will be endless debates about secularism vis-à-vis fundamentalism, forgetting that for poor, livelihood matters the most.

The writer is a noted economist

bdebroy@gmail.com