Proposals for restoring law and order

["Premkumar S. Rallabandi" <psr3855@unix.tamu.edu>]

Hi Folks! 

	Since everyone on this list is quiet, I thought I would write
some proposals on restoring law and order in our society.

1. Implementation of  the National Police Commission's recommendations,
   which I heard dealt extensively with reforms in the police force. I believe
   this should be the first step towards achieving law and order - to make our
   police more responsive, humane, and responsible. I would like to know
   any of the burocrats on this list had read this report (this is a 
   very old one, and as usual never got implemented). I also know that this 
   report talks about setting up State Security Commissions for better 
   coordination and to make decision-making easier.

2. Government should set up committees that meet regularly
   to look into the complaints/suggestion made by police personnel 
   regarding the organizational problems they face in carrying out their 
   duties. In fact we probably need something on these lines in every 
   profession like teachers, govt. doctors, judges etc.

3. Every police station should hold a open house for all people in its
   area to come and share their concerns and to evaluate the performance of
   the officers. The idea is to bring police close to the people and to 
   work with them. This is again an idea that can be applied to all the services
   provided by the government, and is directly related to the ideal of this
   group - government that works for and with the common man.
   
4. Banning of criminal elements in politics: we will require that all candi-
   dates submit a certificate from ther local police stations showing that no
   criminal cases are pending against them. 
   To minimize the chances of criminals
   hijacking the democracy, all elections should be conducted using electronic
   voting machines. I know that there is a controversy in this area, please
   refer to http://www.cerfnet.com/~amehta/evmsunob.htm. At the same time,
   I also read another more recent article which quoted prof. Indiresan as
   saying that evm's are quite safe to use and should be used. Again, any input
   from the knowledgeable folks is most welcome.
   (As an aside, please visit this guy's homepage (www.cerfnet.com/~amehta/)
    from where the above article is taken. His name is Arun Mehta, 
    I think it would be a good idea to to see if he'd want to be a part of 
    our discussion group. Sanjeev, what do you think?)

5. Making political parties, trade unions and other organizations that hold
   dharnas and agitations accountable for any violence and destruction of 
   public property during such events. To achieve this we have to require
   every registered organization to have a separate cell that is responsible
   for any damage done by its members during rallies and meetings etc. 
   These guys would be criminally prosecuted even if damage of one rupee 
   occurs. 
   Also, depending on the size of the proposed meeting, the organization 
   should be required to pay a security-deposit to cover any costs of 
   damage to public property.

6. Establishment of a high-fidelity information-sharing network that connects 
   all the police stations so that tracking of criminals becomes easy. 
   Basically, we should put the latest technology to the best possible use.

7. Establishment of a central authority to  monitor the funding of Indian
   organizations from outside India.

In addition, I remember that there was a commision that looked into the
politician-burocrat-criminal nexus. The person who headed the commision was 
Gujral's secretary while he was PM. I think his name is Mehra or Malhotra. 
Does anyone have any details about the recommendations by this commision?

Tell me what you all think.

Prem.