PRIME Minister Mr. Narendra Modi is rightly concerned about the public perception of Police in India. He expects the leadership of the Police force in the country to think of ways and means to transform people’s perception about how policing is done. In the process, he expects the Police force to make suitable alterations in the policing style so as to glean maximum positive benefit for the larger society. There is no doubt that Mr. Modi is fully conscious of what the common people think of Police and what actually ails the Police force. Addressing the national conference of the Directors General and Inspectors General of Police, he has expressed his anxiety about transforming public perception with careful and planned efforts.

 

The Prime Minister’s concern and anxiety are quite easily understandable. It must be stated with emphasis that the manner and method of training of the rank and file of Police force in the country has undergone a massive change over the past few decades. It must be admitted that the Police force overall has become smarter in the discharge of its duties -- at all levels. Despite that, in the light of the rapidly changing weave of the socio-political fabric of the larger Indian society, policing must undergo further transformation not just in terms of induction of technology in the tasks and duties but also -- more importantly -- in terms the mindset of the Police force as a common entity. On that count, too, some positive change has been noticed over the past few decades, all right. Yet, despite much effort, the cops have not been able to shed their image as a force that is often bogged down by corruption of worst order. This image has mane shades of grey -- one must admit.

 

One of the most important reasons for such an image is that the people in political structure have not stayed shy of using the Police as their hand-maiden to get ‘things’ done. This image has a legacy that started from the British raj when the rulers used the cops as ruthless and cruel beaters of freedom-fighters. The cops who fired countless bullets at the freedom-fighters’ meeting at Jallianwala Baagh were mostly Indian. Elsewhere, too, a similar picture was available in the country during all stages of the long struggle for Independence.

 

Had the cops refused to follow such diabolical orders, the picture today would have been different -- as per the opinion of many experts. Now also, the image has changed only to a small measure, and the political leadership is known to abuse its control of the Police force in a big way. If the Prime Minister wishes to change the perception of the Police as an under-performing force and transform it as a super-efficient arm of governance, then some basic changes will have to be made in the way how the country treats this arm of governance. Even in the current political set up in the country, the Police force is allegedly used for non-professional tasks.

 

A change in the image of the Police force may be brought about only if the Police force is allowed to conduct itself as a fully professional force. The Police force suffers from many legitimate issues and problems, one of those being inadequate numbers of rank and file at all levels. This problem has assumed menacing proportions in most States. True, the Government has been giving a fair attention to the cops and their issues. Yet, this attention is far below par. What the country needs at this stage is a massive input of all resources into the Police force and make it highly efficient. If money is one of the Police force’s needs, careful application of standard leadership principles to transform the force into a super-alert entity is another. For, mere technology upgradation will serve only a small purpose. In addition, what Indian police force needs is appropriate importance with complete solicitousness. The Government must spend enough money to modernise the Police, all right, but it must also ensure that parallel efforts are done to make the force future-ready on human resources indices as well.