By IANS,
New Delhi: Irrespective of the party in power, the government of India has never exhibited the political will to make the police a professional force, an international NGO – the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) – said here Wednesday.
“There have been numerous attempts to conduct reviews and compile recommendations on how to convert India’s police into an organisation that imbibes democratic values, the failure has always been in implementation,” the report said.
The report – Feudal forces: Reform Delayed – was released by Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal here.
The CHRI in its recommendations said the government should immediately pass a legislation that updates the police act of 1861. It should vigorously pursue the agenda of police reform in each of the union territories and the national capital territory.
“The government should also vigorously pursue the agenda of police reform in those states where the same political party holds power and finally limit the potential for the National Investigating Agency (NIA) to be politicised,” the report said.
The creation of the NIA was a fallout of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.
The report went on to say that India’s police are generally “reactive”, rather than “proactive”.
“The NIA has not been given the necessary powers to prevent terror-related offences. For any law enforcement agency to properly prevent crime, it requires more than simply powers of investigation and enforcement. Provision has to be made for the sharing, collection, collation, analysis and dissemination of intelligence. This is a tremendous failing of police organisations throughout India,” the report noted.