IPS for Home Secretary - 01 Dec 2008

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Editorial/SUBVERSE_Cops_to_the_rescue/articleshow/3810296.cms

Times of India -Editorial-Opinion-Subverse

Cops to the rescue

9 Dec 2008, 0010 hrs IST, MAXWELL PEREIRA

"Enough is enough" is the anguished war cry sounded across the country following the terrorist attack on Mumbai. Shaken and shattered by the onslaught on the financial capital, the people of India as a whole have risen and clamoured for change and concrete action. At the receiving end are the politicians, and rightly so. Without doubt they have a lot to answer for.

But what about our administrators who hold the strings for the politicians and are expected to guide and help them take the right decisions and ensure action? In the 60-plus years since independence, how have our administrators fared in administering areas, like internal security

for instance, in which they claim expertise? There are many who believe that the root cause of unrest, violence, and growing Naxalism in the country is the inefficient management of land revenue and land records, both fiercely protected turfs of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).

There are blogs on the internet that describe India's bureaucracy as "famously hidebound, having reduced the fine art of doing absolutely nothing and getting away scot-free to a science". True, there are fine IAS officers who prove the exception to the rule, but for the most part, as one blog puts it, "the babus in Delhi are happiest twiddling their thumbs in offices the size of an apartment". In the Mumbai terror strike they (the blogs) say "the failure of India's intelligence agencies and the home ministry rests at the feet of the babus".

Back in December 1974 the underground insurgent leader Laldenga's MNF cadres in Mizoram stormed the state police headquarters in Aizawl and killed G S Arya, L B Sewa and Panchappageshan, the three most senior police officers of the state at point-blank range. At a time when the whole territory and its administration was rendered rudderless and was in utter chaos, it was Surinder Nath an IPS officer of the Union territories cadre who was chosen to take the seat of chief secretary to restore state authority and enforce the rule of law that made developmental governance possible and eventually led to the wiping out of insurgency, bringing peace to the people within a democratic framework.

Later, during the Khalistan movement and Punjab insurgency, when all semblance of governance had broken down when even post offices and other essential services in the state had to be run either by the police or with police help it was the sheer tenacity and administrative acumen of IPS officers like Julio Rebeiro and K P S Gill that saved the day. They could overawe and wipe out the militants and their sinister designs for secession, and restore democracy in that part of our country.

When matters came to a head in Kashmir and the Farooq Abdullah government resigned in 1990, and President's rule was imposed, no IAS officer was prepared to go to the state as adviser to the then governor to help administer the state. Again, two illustrious IPS officers Ved Marwah and J M Qureshi came to the country's rescue and went as advisers, to help administer the state, both in the developmental and internal security areas.

When IPS officers have proved their mettle time and again and rescued the government, why then are they always given stepmotherly treatment and thought of only in times of crisis?

Many feel that the duties of a home secretary, especially those related to internal security, would be better discharged by an officer from the IPS, who would be professionally better qualified because of greater exposure and experience in the field of law enforcement. Chances of enforcing the rule of law would be better, and therefore people's faith in democracy would be firmer.

It may sound radical, and pretty unpalatable for our administrators, but isn't it high time that the country thinks in terms of having the right and the best person for every position, the one most qualified and with the right kind of experience? This includes choosing the best candidate as home secretary who is responsible for the internal security of the country, be it at the Centre or state level.

The writer is a former joint commissioner of police, Delhi.