Ruling parties controlling cops, say experts

HYDERABAD: Former DGP M.V. Krishna Rao and political economist Parakala Prabhakar, on Thursday discussed the need for reforms in the police and the challenges in implementing the changes. They were taking part in the Deccan Dialogues series.

Prabhakar said while IPS officers came across as knowledgeable, the people saw lower and mid-level police officers as being unfriendly, oppressive and corrupt. Krishna Rao said over the past 75 years, the police were being controlled by ruling parties, and the police were expected to convert themselves into the party’s domestic servants.

Krishna Rao, however, added that there had been considerable improvement in manpower and infrastructure since the time he had joined the service in 1974, but attitudinal changes were still warranted.

Speaking about the police in Uttar Pradesh, Krishna Rao said there was a high degree of non-conformity with the law in UP. “They have their own selective interpretation of the law, and the speed with which they bulldoze houses and bump off unsocial elements is high. They make claims of doing what the public wants. But these actions are against Article 21 of the Constitution,” said the DGP.
Prabhakar questioned Rao on whether or not officers were equipped during training to take a stand against such practices. Krishna Rao replied that such practices would come by the value system rather than by training.

“Fifty IPS officers in Telangana are without any posts. Their salaries are paid at taxpayers’ cost but they are not assigned any duties even though some of them are brilliant. That is how they are able to break the will of determined cops,” Krishna Rao said.