Round The States

New Delhi, 4 January 2007

Despite Apex Court’s Order….

STATES EVADE POLICE REFORMS

By Insaf

The State Governments seem determined to have their way on the crucial subject of police reforms. These have been recommended by various commissions and committees over the past two decades but have been successfully evaded. The States are, indeed, not willing even to implement the Supreme Court order of September last for overdue reforms. At a Chief Ministers meet, convened by Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil in New Delhi over the week-end to discuss the issue, they unanimously decided to individually inform the Court about their practical difficulties in implementing the order.  The Court had directed all the States to set up a State Security Commissions each, a police establishment board to decide all postings, transfers and promotions and a police complaint authority at the district and State levels.  It also stipulated that the DGPs at the State headquarters should be selected from a panel of three officers finalized by the UPSC and should have a fixed tenure of two years like the officers under him.

Most Chief Ministers voiced strong reservations about the fixed-tenure proposal. Bihar’s Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, for example, apprehended that fixed tenures could create “monsters” in each police station. He argued that it was simplistic to blame political interference and asked: “What about interference from the superiors as also corruption and bribery?”  The States are particularly opposed to the Security Commissions on the plea that these would encroach upon their jurisdiction as did the selection of the DGPs by a panel set up by the UPSC.  That, they insisted, was their prerogative. Even Shivraj Patil  conceded that the Centre was not in favour of the DGPs being selected from a UPSC panel. Opinion was, however, divided on the establishment of a Police Complaint Authority. Karnataka opposed it on the ground that such an authority at the State and district levels would cost nearly 40 crore, which it could ill-afford.

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Assembly Polls In Three States

Crucial Assembly elections are slated during the year in six States and, possibly, in seven.  The Election Commission has announced polls in Punjab, Uttaranchal and Manipur next month, leaving out Uttar Pradesh for March-April. Gujarat and Goa are scheduled to go for the Assembly polls in the second half of the year. Karnataka too may face an election, given its unending political developments. The first round of polls in February are crucial for the Congress. The party is ruling in all the three States and has completed full five-year tenures in Punjab and Uttaranchal. Confident of a peaceful poll in these two States, the Election Commission has announced one-day poll--on February 13 in the Punjab and February 21 in Uttaranchal.  In the insurgency-hit Manipur, it will be a three-day poll---on February 2, 15 and 23.

The stage is set in the Punjab for a fierce contest between the ruling Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal)-BJP combine, as indicated by the tendency on both sides to hit each other below the belt.  Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who is leading the Congress campaign, has claimed that his party will win around 70-75 seats in the 117-member Assembly.  The party has 66 MLAs in the present House. The Leader of the Opposition, and former Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal has reacted sharply to Amarinder Singh’s claim and thinks that the Congress would struggle to get even 30 seats.  For his own party, he has predicted a three-fourth majority in the next Assembly.  The party had won 40 seats in the last Assembly poll. Badal has also dismissed as false propaganda Amarinder Government’s claim that it has brought a lot of positive changes in Punjab. A lot more is sure to follow.

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Ensuring Peaceful Poll In Manipur

The ruling Congress in Uttaranchal faces a challenging task, where the main Opposition, the BJP, is hoping to win a comfortable majority. The State Congress continues to be a divided house, causing anxiety to the Congress High Command. In Manipur, meanwhile, the law and order situation is receiving special attention of both the Election Commission and the Union Government. Election Commissioner Navin Chawla has already visited the State and worked out details with the State Government about the deployment of security forces for the three-phase poll.  A Central team, headed by Home Secretary V.K. Duggal, has visited Assam and Manipur to work out deployment of security forces, keeping in mind that the National Games at Guwahati from February 9 to 24 coincide with the Manipur poll. ULFA continues to oppose the Games and is even threatening to go physical.

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EC Plans For U.P.

The Election Commission is making all-out efforts to ensure a free and fair poll for the 403-member Assembly in U.P.  That is why the U.P. poll has been delinked from the three other States.  The crucial election is likely to get the attention of the kind received by Bihar in 2005 and West Bengal last year. A four-phase poll is expected to be announced. Even as the warning bells are beginning to worry Chief Minister Mulayam Singh and his party, following the increasing reports of the law and order problems in the State, the Election Commission has been quietly going about its job of cleansing the electoral rolls. So far, as many as 25 lakh names of “dead voters” have been struck off the voters’ list.  Incidentally, the already detected number relates to only dead persons. The Commission would also be striking off the names of duplicate voters, for which purpose booth level officers have also been appointed.

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Singur Troubles Chhatisgarh

West Bengal’s land deal with the Tatas for their Rs.1 lakh car project is beginning to create controversial waves elsewhere. What is considered by the BJP to be poison in Singur is, in fact, viewed as manna by the same party in Chhatisgarh..  Even as the BJP supports Trinamool Congress against the Tata deal in West Bengal, its own Government in Chhatisgarh is busy earmarking over 6000 acres of agricultural land for the Tatas, who want to invest Rs.10,000 crore in a steel plant with a capacity of 5 million tonnes per annum.  The State’s Raman Government claims that the villagers have passed a gram sabha resolution accepting the land acquisition. But the tribals in the Lohandiguda block of Bastar say they do not want to part with their land. In fact, they want the State Government to accept 13 demands in lieu of their land. Heading the list is their demand of “land for land”. This cannot be met easily.

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Rewriting Rajathan’s History

Vasundhara Raje’s Rajasthan Government has launched on a bizarre project. She wants the State’s history written afresh to make it more authentic. About 175 years ago, Col. James Todd had written a book entitled: Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan. This was considered the most authentic work on the State’s 41,000 villages and 186 cities and towns. But the State Government and its Education Minister, Ghanshyam Tiwari does not think so and regard it as highly controversial. It has, therefore, decided to seek the assistance of 50,000 teachers to write their own version of Rajasthan’s history under a one-year project entitled: Aapno Dharti, Aapno Log.  (Our Land, Our People).  Will the end product be authentic history or will it be folk lore laced with highly subjective romanticism?  The State’s historians have their doubts, grave doubts. They would prefer to have well-known historians to do the job.---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)