GUWAHATI, Oct 14 - The State government failed to show sincerity in improving the functioning of the police force and plugging the loopholes in the recruitment process by implementing the recommendations of the Police Reforms Committee.
This was the view expressed by former State Home Secretary DN Saikia, who was one of the members of the Committee headed by former Director General of Police N Changkakoti.
Talking to The Assam Tribune, Saikia said the Committee had submitted its report way back in June 2002, but till date, most of the key recommendations have not been implemented.
He said that in 2012-13, the Home Department had contacted him and asked whether he had a copy of the report as the same was misplaced. �I gave them a photostat copy. This shows the lack of sincerity on part of the government. It is unfortunate that the report of the Committee was misplaced and the government came to know about it after 10 years,� he said.
Saikia said that members of the Committee visited different parts of the country including the headquarters of the Intelligence Bureau and Central Bureau of Investigation to study their functioning before finalising the recommendations. He said implementation of the recommendations could have improved the functioning of the police force to a great extent, and the government can still examine the report thoroughly and make necessary amendments if required.
He said that the Committee gave wide-ranging recommendations on the recruitment process, but those were not implemented. The Committee had recommended that recruitment boards should be constituted every year, but the same person headed the Board for years and he was asked to resign only after the recruitment scam was unearthed.
He said that the Committee gave recommendations to check corruption in the police department, but those were also not implemented.
As it was observed that there were political and other interferences in transfer and posting of police officers, the Committee had called for a transparent policy and suggested that the track record and integrity of the police officers should be checked while posting them in key positions. But the government did not pay heed to the recommendations.
Saikia said the Committee also gave recommendations on issues like improving police-public relations, strengthening the branches like CID, Forensic Science Laboratory, improving policing in Guwahati, better criminal investigation, etc., but most of those were not implemented.
�The Committee included senior retired and serving police officers and they were well versed with the problems and loopholes. The government should have taken the report seriously if it is really serious in improving the police force,� Saikia added.
GUWAHATI, Oct 14 - The State government failed to show sincerity in improving the functioning of the police force and plugging the loopholes in the recruitment process by implementing the recommendations of the Police Reforms Committee.
This was the view expressed by former State Home Secretary DN Saikia, who was one of the members of the Committee headed by former Director General of Police N Changkakoti.
Talking to The Assam Tribune, Saikia said the Committee had submitted its report way back in June 2002, but till date, most of the key recommendations have not been implemented.
He said that in 2012-13, the Home Department had contacted him and asked whether he had a copy of the report as the same was misplaced. �I gave them a photostat copy. This shows the lack of sincerity on part of the government. It is unfortunate that the report of the Committee was misplaced and the government came to know about it after 10 years,� he said.
Saikia said that members of the Committee visited different parts of the country including the headquarters of the Intelligence Bureau and Central Bureau of Investigation to study their functioning before finalising the recommendations. He said implementation of the recommendations could have improved the functioning of the police force to a great extent, and the government can still examine the report thoroughly and make necessary amendments if required.
He said that the Committee gave wide-ranging recommendations on the recruitment process, but those were not implemented. The Committee had recommended that recruitment boards should be constituted every year, but the same person headed the Board for years and he was asked to resign only after the recruitment scam was unearthed.
He said that the Committee gave recommendations to check corruption in the police department, but those were also not implemented.
As it was observed that there were political and other interferences in transfer and posting of police officers, the Committee had called for a transparent policy and suggested that the track record and integrity of the police officers should be checked while posting them in key positions. But the government did not pay heed to the recommendations.
Saikia said the Committee also gave recommendations on issues like improving police-public relations, strengthening the branches like CID, Forensic Science Laboratory, improving policing in Guwahati, better criminal investigation, etc., but most of those were not implemented.
�The Committee included senior retired and serving police officers and they were well versed with the problems and loopholes. The government should have taken the report seriously if it is really serious in improving the police force,� Saikia added.
