On 21st October 2018 National Police commemoration day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation refurbished National Police Memorial and Museum for the Khaki wearing personnel in Delhi.
Police Commemoration Day 2018
The memorial is built in recognition of the supreme sacrifice made by police personnel since Independence. it represents all state and union territory police forces as well as Central police organisation of the country.
- The National Police Memorial has been built on 6.12 acres in Central Delhi in Chanakyapuri area.
- The central sculpture is a 30 feet monolith made of a single piece of granite weighing 238 tonnes.
- Its colour symbolises solubility of the supreme sacrifice.
- A 60-foot-long river at the base of the sculpture reflects the continuous self-service of the police personnel in maintaining peace and public order.
The wall of valour has names of all police personnel who lost their lives in the line of Duty. Since Independence 34,844 police Personnel from Central and state police forces have laid down their lives in the line of Duty. they include 414 who laid down their lives in service over the last year.
Most sacrifices were made in the fight against terrorism in Kashmir, Punjab, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and left-wing extremism affected regions of the country.
The newly built museum has an underground facility on the premises of the National Police Memorial. it captures the history, artefacts, uniform and care of Central and state police forces. the Museum project is being stared by the Intelligence Bureau in coordination with the central armed police forces that function under the command of the union home ministry.
The Prime Minister also announced the national award in the name of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose will be given every year to police personnel who do excellent work in rescue and relief operations during any kind of disaster.
The Prime minister announcement came on the 75th anniversary of bosses declaration of the formation of India’s first independent government The Azaj Hind Fauj on 21st October 1943. The award will be announced on 23rd January the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
The Police force in India is governed by laws, which was made on the British Era. There have been multiple debates on police reforms in the country, several expert panels and commissions have been made to improve the existing police system.
Indian Police Responsibilities
A police force is empowered to enforce the law to protect people & property as well as to prevent crime and civil disorders.it is one of the most important organisations in society. police are expected to be accessible in the government machinery. they need to be ready to help citizens in times of need, dangerous, crisis and difficulty.
The police personnel have multi works, these include investigation related duties, prevention of crime, preservation of peace and security, enforcement of social legislation, democratic and election-related duties. there are also needed to help in natural calamities, disaster management and emergencies, maintenance of police records.
The police account for near 3% government spending in the country. the result is poor infrastructure and overburdens police force. In January 2016 state police had 24% vacancies. which means while the sanctioned police trained 181 police per lakh people, the actual strength was just 137. the United Nations recommended standard is 222 Police per lakh person.
Police Reforms In India
The second Administrative Reforms Commission of 2007 noted that since the police forces have come under the control of the political executive. Their operational freedom is affected both the central and state government interfere with professional decision making by the police resulting in the biased performance of duty.
The commission along with the supreme court also observed that there is a need to have an independent complaints authority to inquire into cases of police misconduct. Police in India is an overburden force, the second Administrative Reforms Commission recommended ways to reduce the burden by Outsourcing or redistributing some non-core police function such as traffic management, disaster rescue and relief and issuing of court summons to government departments or Private agency. The commission also suggests modernization of the police forces.
- In 1977 the National Police Commission was established, the NPC suggested that superintendents be defined in the law to exclude instructions that interfere with due process of the law of that unlawful insurance police personnel transfers recruitment etc.
- In 2005, the central government set up the police act drafting committee to draft a new model police law that could replace the police act of 1861.
- The committee submitted the model police act in 2016, Asking all states to set up state and district level complaints authorities.
- In 2008, the supreme court appointed justice KT Thomas as the head of the three-member monitoring committee for implementation of its directions on police reforms.
- In 2013, the Verma committee also called for police reforms. it called on every member of the police force to understand their accountability is only to the law.
Many other commissions have also been formed to look into reform in the police in India like the Gore committee on police training, the Ribeiro committee on police reforms, the Padmanabhan committee on police reforms along with recommendations made from time to time by the national human right commission and the law commission.
It requires the police to work with the community for prevention and detection from maintenance public order and resolving local conflict with the objective of providing a better quality of life and sense of security.
Police System History In India
The British started the modern police system in India, evidence of a police-like arrangement can be traced back to the modern era during the modern rule Ashoka used the term “Punnis” or city keeper in Pali language.
Kautilya in his book Arthshashtra also mentioned the criminal justice system during the era. explorers like Megasthanes and Fahian mention officers who performed duty like modern police officers during the Gupta period.
After the Battle of Buxar when the British took over the revenue system Warren Hastings in 1781 try to bring reforms to the police system with the help of the local administration. however actual Reform was brought in by Lord Cornwallis who set up wage base permanent police force to prevent crimes in India. Cornwallis distributed districts in 27 police zones, the police station was situated after every four hundred miles and every station was headed by Daroga.
The British brought in many reforms to strengthen the Indian police force. A Police Commission was established 1860 and with its recommendations, The Police Act 1861 was passed.
According to article 246 of the Indian constitution and section 3 of the Indian penal code, the police system is a matter of states with no interference from the centre. State government have right to recruit and make rules for its Police Force. the highest officer of the police force in the states is the Director General of Police, however, the central government appoints police forces at the Central level.
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