Looking after the Home portfolio : Refubishing the men in Khakis
- Sangai Express Editorial :: October 01, 2013 -

Man on the go.

At least this is the image or message that Mr Gaikhangam has conveyed, successfully to a certain extent, ever since he assumed charge of the Home portfolio and was later elevated to the post of Deputy Chief Minister.

The intensive measures that have been initiated to streamline the functioning of the State Police Department and plug all possible loopholes is perfectly in line with the stand of the man, who seems intent on saying that he is here to do a job and do it effectively.

Whether this will fructify or go some distance in bettering policing in the State or will end up as nothing more than an exercise to please the eyes and ears of the public is something which only time will tell, but a significant statement has been delivered.

A statement or an admission that there are still a lot of things to be done with the State Police Department, which has gained more infamy than accolades down the years.

How successfully the Home Minister, of course with the active co-operation of the men helming the Police Department, will be able to turn the tide remains to be seen but a beginning has to be made and perhaps this is the right time.

A people-friendly force. This has been the mantra that Mr Gaikhangam has been banking on but the difference between a slogan and translating it at the ground level should not be lost in the dust kicked up by the euphoria of a slogan.

How far Mr Gaikhangam will walk the talk to make this observation significant is something only he himself can decide.

A people friendly force should not be that too tough a task to achieve, provided the determination is there.

The people of Manipur are realists and obviously, in a place like Manipur, no would expect the State police to be the friendly British cop on his round.

But yes something needs to be done to better the image of the police and in Mr Gaikhangam, Manipur seems to have the right man.

That is, if he is really intent on taking up the matter with the seriousness it deserves and is not merely playing to the gallery.

Situation has been such that the idea of policing in Manipur has been only about busting the hide outs of militants, scalping the insurgents under dubious circumstances-a sure sign that the police has not been able to look beyond CI Ops.

The sense of immunity and impunity granted to the police is something which is visible to the naked eyes.

Breaking one way traffic norms, expecting everyone to give them the right of way on the road and donning arrogance as part of their uniform.

This is what the State police has been and more all these years.

At the moment the total number of police personnel including VDF, police commandos, civil police, MR personnel and IRB personnel has been pegged at 35,000.

In a State, which has a population of about 27 lakhs, this works out to one policeman per 77 civilian.

A very healthy ratio by any stretch of the imagination.

Yet the policemen here seem to be an over worked lot.

A sure indication that there is nothing such as man power planning.

Certainly not the way in which a department as important and as crucial as the Police Department should be managed or administered.

Streamline the working system of the police. A man on the go.

But which direction the Home Minister will go or proceed towards is something which is still in the realm of speculation.

On the other hand, there is also the need to understand the real essence of police modernisation, a term which has been tom tommed all these years.

Police modernisation should not only be about equipping the cops with the state of the art weaponry but should also extend to their expertise in framing charge sheets, in setting up laboratories to crack criminal cases etc.

An important point which has been over looked all these years.