Modernising cops: 14 states yet to spend a penny

Modernising cops: 14 states yet to spend a penny Vishwa Mohan TNN  New Delhi: States perennially cry for fund to modernise their police forces, but most of them fail to utilize it when they get Central assistance. Government figures show that 14 of the 28 states did not spend a single penny of what they got from the home ministry during 2011-12.     Though none of the states had spent entire money during the period, half of them including Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, Haryana, Jammu &Kashmir, Sikkim, Goa, Tripura, Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, had preferred to keep the fund fully unspent.     Utilization certificates — shared by the states for the period in April — show that all of them had collectively spent Rs 215.81 crore (nearly 27%) of the total Rs 800 crore that was released to them by the home ministry under the Modernisation of Police Fund (MPF) scheme.      The fund is released every year to states under the scheme which is earmarked for procurement of vehicles, communication equipment, surveillance equipment, sophisticated weaponry, creating training infrastructure and construction of police stations, outposts and barracks.     Records of insurgency-hit northeastern states and terror-infested J&K in not utilising any Central fund under the MPF scheme may certainly put a question mark over the sincerity of these states in strengthening their police force.     Although spending records of all states were relatively better in 2010-11 when they had spent Rs 930.98 crore out of Rs 1,224.63 crore under the scheme, the home ministry had in 2012-13 preferred to release only Rs 300 crore as officials believed that there was no point releasing more money when it consistently remained unutilised.     States are supposed to send their utilization certificates for the fund released to them during last fiscal by next April. The Centre insists on the utilisation certificate as it wants states not to divert the MPF scheme fund for some other purpose.     Poor spending is, however, not the only problem. Unfortunately, most of the states had also not initiated police reforms despite Supreme Court’s directive in 2006.     The apex court had in its judgment come out with seven key suggestions, including prescribing minimum tenure of two years for state police chief and officers on operational duties, separating investigation and law & order functions of police and many other steps to insulate cops from political interference in their day-to-day duties.     Retired IPS officer and former BSF chief Prakash Singh said, “Reforms are not happening due to states’ cussedness and politicians’ unwillingness at every level. Chief ministers treat police department as their z a m i n d a r i (fiefdom). They are against reforms because they don’t want to give police autonomy”.     The home ministry too has not been successful in implementing even those recommendations which come under the Centre’s domain, specifically in Union Territories (UTs), including the national Capital. Even the Model Police Act, which provides for well-defined duties and responsibilities of the police and their sensitivity and responsiveness towards general public, could not be translated into an actual piece of legislation, leaving the UTs’ police continue to function under an archaic law made by the British over 150 years ago.     Singh, whose petition the SC had pushed the government to initiate much needed police reforms, said, “Sensing the lukewarm response of the Centre on police reform issues, the states seem to have preferred to adopt a lacklustre approach with most of them failing to implement various measures”.