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The
Padmanabhaiah Committee on Police Reforms
In
January 2000, the Government of India announced the setting up of
another Committee on Police Reforms. The composition of this Committee
was as follows:
Shri.
K. Padmanabhaiah - Chairman, Ex-Union Home Secretary
Shri. Vijay Karan, IPS (Retd.) - Member
Shri M. D Sharma, IPS (Retd.) - Member
Shri. Amitabh Gupta, IPS - Member
Shri. B. B Nanda, IPS - Member -Secretary
The terms of reference of the Committee were:
(i)
To examine and specify the challenges that the police in India would
face during the next millennium
(ii) To evaluate the strength and weaknesses of the police force,
as it is organised and structured today, to see if it would be able
to meet those challenges
(iii) To understand and appreciate the gap between the public's
expectations and police performance, and whether this gap can be
filled without making any basic changes in the structure, organisation
and the attitudes of the police
(iv) To envision a new look, cultured, people-friendly and a fighting-fit
police force which is able to win the confidence and trust of the
people and, at the same time, can effectively tackle the problems
of organised crime, militancy and terrorism
(v) To examine and bring out the changes which should be made in
the following systems to transform our police into a most professional
and competent force:
(a)
Recruitment at different levels
(b) Training - both induction and in-service
(c) Career planning at all levels
(d) Accountability of the police
(e) Redressal of public grievances
(f) Redressal of police grievances
(g) Police Station of the Next Millennium
(h) Villages and city police
(i) Techniques of investigation
(j) Prosecution of cases
(k) Management of traffic
(l) Dealing with women and weaker sections of society
(vi)
To suggest measures to equip the police to adequately meet the challenges
of the modern, hi-tech criminal and of cyber crime
(vii) To recommend changes in the weaponry, communication and mobility
of the police force
(viii) To examine how the intelligence gathering machinery could
be revamped, both at the Centre and within the states, and how their
mutual interaction for intelligence sharing could be made faster
and more reliable
(ix) To devise methods of insulating the police from politicisation
and criminalisation
(x) To devise ways of securing public trust and cooperation in preventing
and solving crime
(xi) To examine the need to clarify some crimes as "federal
crimes" and to create a Federal Law Enforcement Agency under
the Ministry of Home Affairs
(xii) The structural changes that need to be introduced for the
police to function more efficiently and professionally.
As
per the original Office Memorandum with which the Committee was
set up, it was given only three months to complete its work. The
Committee completed its report in August 2000. To see a summary
of recommendations of the Committee, click below:
Padmanabhaiah
Committee on Police Reforms - Summary of Recommendations
Amongst
the terms of reference assigned to the Padmanabhaiah Committee,
two are considered very important by CHRI. These are "to devise
methods of insulating the police from politicisation and criminalisation"
and suggest reforms to ensure "accountability of police"
and "redressal of public grievances." These terms were
examined by the Committee in three chapters- - Politicisation and
Criminalisation of Police (chapter 9), Control over Police (chapter
10) and Accountability of Police (chapter 18). The CHRI did a critical
analysis of the main points discussed in these chapters. To study
our critical comments on the main points made in these chapters,
click below:
Padmanabhaiah
Committee on Police Reforms-A Critical Analysis of Some Important
Recommendations
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