Efficient and effective

If what deputy chief minister in-charge of home Y. Patton articulated at a formal meeting with top police brass at Kohima on March 25,2023, is to have any impact on commitment to effect qualitative change, then it can be described as revolutionary. The police department under the home department, plays a very crucial role in effecting the rule of law in the state. It may also be noted that Patton has been holding charge of the home portfolio at various periods, first during 2017 under then chief minister T.R.Zeliang and then as deputy chief minister in-charge of home in 2018 and again holding the same status and portfolio after the 2023 election. Patton informed that the state police force which has grown from 1000 people in 1980s to about 26,000 in 2023, is urgent need of improving its efficiency. According to Patton, the cure for the department’s many varied ailments is by re-organization and restructuring the Police force so that better and optimal utilization of manpower and resources can be undertaken. Talks of modernisation of police force has been heard for decades and involving hundreds of crore rupees which have been spent on purchases of vehicles and other supply oriented items while the ordinary jawan has been left out of the purview. There was a report that some years ago that some middlemen supplied second hand Gypsies to the police department including another scam involving purchase of ammunition etc. It is an irony that when the ministers, officers, contractors and middlemen talk about modernisation, the police personnel are given sub-standard uniform and equipments and ration of very inferior quality. Police personnel in other states are accommodated in housing complex or police lines for their safety and security including their families. Even if politicians and officers habitually siphon money under specious schemes, they could have at least spent the money for setting up forensic laboratory, which is a critical need. Nagaland is the second oldest state after Assam while all other states came into existence at least a decade later. Today, while all these later day states have well equipped forensic laboratories as well as other modern facilities for their police, Nagaland is decades behind. To add insult to injury, Patton also disclosed that states are not willing to accept evidence from crime scenes for analysis. Each testing for laboratory testing costs Rs.5000 excluding the expenditure in the form of TA/DA for police officers accompanying the samples. Another pressing need is enhancing investigation by setting up of a Cyber Forensic Laboratory since criminals are becoming more sophisticated by using IT or cyber interface. When it comes to bravery, Nagaland Police has shown this when the 9 IR(NAP) tackled Naxalites in Chhattishgarh and their feats are legendary. However, fighting is not the be-all and end-all of policing. What Patton spoke is all about the need for police reforms. This was addressed by the Supreme Court in 2006 , when it ordered the state governments to implement several reforms in police force. Modernisation per se, will not be adequate unless there is a serious effort to effect mental cure through reformation within the force so as to achieve transformation as one of the finest modern police force in the country. In this it is hoped Patton will walk the talk when the time comes.