Failures of Police Leadership

If army leadership fails to make people surrender to its demands then it is not worth its salt. What you are talking about IPS quota, so called IPS have done more damage to the country then any other service or even politicianthe need of hour is that we rise above vested interests and petty differences of army ,BSF and think in the larger interest of the society and promote the professionalism in every service to save the great India from further humiliations, you must not have forgotten the Boraibari, and the fidayeen at Taj bringing down the might of Indian security foces to its knees. You know about Mr.Padamshree, how he has succeeded in misleading whole country on the "Politics of Police Reforms" and our apex court at the helm of this rot, is not leaving any stone unturned to further insulate this lobby from any accountability. all meritorious/distinguished/gallant/ BSF Generals (serving/retired) if they get together and bring out just one article on the issue will be worth it but we exhaust our vocabulary just after two sentences and coming up with articles on national level and conceive a plan and strategize it, will be like asking for moon. I am copy pasting again the article of General Surjeet with my comments on it. few senior IPS/IAS officers have unleased diatribe on this effort it is very healthy sign and exposes the under belly . Objective is not to cirulate my name among the officers of your elite organization but if it can arouse the intellectual giant sleeping in the alleged BSF Generals forget about DCs and 2ICs and COMDTs.Cheers !May God bless the protruding tummies! Long live psychofancy and nepotism !with best of regardssincerely yoursAridaman jit singh----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Article of General SurjeetIf India is united and intact today, it is because of its military and in spite of our frenzied polity. I dare you to name a colonel or a general who is either communal or a zealot.Marching Shoulder to ShoulderOn Republic Day, as they march down the Rajpath, the lay Indian can not tell the difference between the Army and the Police. And there is no need for any dissimilarity, because both these land forces exist for the same purpose; ‘to protect the life and property of our citizens.’Look further and you find that their swords, rifles and even badges of rank are similar. Their respective cadres have well defined equivalents at each rung and their salary structures are determined by the same pay panels. Indeed, based on these striking similarities, the Sixth Pay Commission recommended that a lot could be achieved if soldiers retiring from the Army could be laterally shifted to the police force.The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) rejected the suggestion outright. Its reasons for rejecting this apparently desirable administrative reform will become clear as you read on. To understand this complex issue, it is necessary to know the radical differences in their terms and conditions of service and their leadership patterns. The Numbers GameFor the purpose of this discussion, all security personnel controlled by the MHA have been grouped together. Thus the State police cadres have been combined with the Para Military outfits such as the CRPF, BSF etc. The macro-level picture is as follows (all figures are approximate and based on averages of the last few years):
ArmyPolice ServicesStrength of the force11 lakh 23 lakhNumber of officers (sanctioned) 43,000 3800Deficiency of officers 11,500 NilAnnual intake of officers 1050 (regular) 60 (direct IPS)Officers in grades above PB4 9Over 250Levels of EntryIn the Army, soldiers are inducted at two levels: as enlisted men and as officers. There is a provision for sepoy entrants to rise to officer ranks, but of the 60,000 soldiers recruited each year, less than 150 end up as officers.In the Police, the entry is at four levels: (i) as constables (ii) as Inspectors (iii) in the State Police cadres and eligible to enter the IPS and (iv) direct entrants to the IPS. The figures with me suggest that of the 3800 officers, the number of direct entrants into the IPS is a little over 2200.Promotion Prospects and Terms of EngagementAll police personnel retire at the age of 60. The four levels of entry more or less determine the terminal post of an entrant, within a narrow range. Thus a constable may at best become an Inspector; an Inspector may rise to a middle level officer; a State police officer would rise to be a DIG or IG and indeed, the direct entrant to the IPS would normally retire as a Director General of Police.In sharp contrast, promotions in the army are extremely difficult to attain. Less than 600 out of the 60,000 men who are recruited retire as Sub-Maj, on an average. Of the 1100 officers granted commission each year, no more than 600 rise to command their battalions regiments. About 125 become Brigadiers, 50 rise to be Maj-General, 15 can see three stars on their car, and a plucky three or four attain the apex grade.Retirement is also rank related. With every promotion, a soldier earns the right to serve for two additional years. These highly coveted promotions are earned through sheer dint of hard work and commitment to service. Medical fitness and discipline standards are the other two determinants for ascendancy.In the police service also, standards have been laid down and cops have to undergo courses of instruction and earn good reports to rise in the hierarchy. But the infinitesimal numbers inducted at higher levels of entry enable a very high proportion of entrants to get promoted almost as a matter of course. This indeed is easy to administer, just promote the man who joined the force early. Seniority is a matter of fact. Merit and performance are based on opinions, which may differ. Struggle for existence and survival of the fittestThere is a flip side to this highly ingenious method of ‘cadre management’ devised by the civil servants. Assured promotion tends to lead to complacency. Competition brings the best out of a person. Promotion can be a good motivator for employees to strive for excellence in performance. The dictum enunciated by Darwin applies to all living beings. Seniority teaches through hands on experience, but that is not the sole determinant of performance. I ask, ‘Do you choose a surgeon on the basis of his ‘seniority’ in the job?’Leader-Led ratioThere are many differences between the Police and the Army. But the ratio of officers to men is perhaps the most striking one. At a party, a Police officer told me that the total number of IPS officers in UP is about 400. Of them more than half are of the level of DIG and above, with as many as twenty DGs of Police.The number of officers in an Infantry Division is about 450. Of them no more than five are of the one-star rank and there is only one Major General. The result is that on ground, the apex police officers have no young officer to field when the chips are down. It is a time tested fact that soldiers will go into battle, if and only if, they are led from the front. You can not sit in an air conditioned office and ask men to go and face the bullet. The situation is like:Aasman pe dhoom hai, zamin par koi nahin: Sab to DG hain yahan, halakoo koi nahin! The number of star ranks in the Police Service would make no difference to the soldiers if the two land forces were to exist and operate in isolated environments: the military on the borders and the police within the country. But the position on ground is that at every bend in the Ganges, the polity turns to the army for help. Whether it is a riot or terrorist attack or even a child trapped in a pit, the Police rushes to the Army for help. And when that happens, hackles go up. When a DIG with 15 years service tries to throw the weight of his ‘one-star’ status on a Commanding Officer, the soldier’s ego suffers a blow. Similarly, at ceremonial functions, when the General Officer Commanding of an Area is seated next to third rung Police officers, you can not fault him if he feels slighted.What impels Police to turn to the Army for help?It is often believed that the Police turns to the military because the Army has better weapons and equipment. This is not entirely true. The difference is not in the kind of arms or ammunition: it is in leadership styles.The Army has a band of spirited young officers which the Police lacks. The direct entrants into the IPS are all potential Director Generals, and so they think ‘big’ from the day they join the Police Academy. There is also a difference in their selection process. It takes at least three years to prepare for the civil services examination, a considerable cerebral effort. The training at the Police Academy is a bit like military training, but the duration is short and the failure rate negligible. The youthful military officer is selected through outdoor tests and the training is an undiluted ‘grind.’Let us now take a look at the adversary. The typical terrorist, gangster, brigand or ‘jihadi’ is a young man in his twenties. He is deeply committed to his cause and willing to die. He is agile, swift, ingenuous and frenzied, and armed. You can not reason with him, because he is unwilling to talk. To lock horns with him you need someone to match his prowess, and stake his life for the cause. Your book learning, analytical prowess and debating skills are, in fact, a liability. You cannot beat him by writing cogent papers or through media pressure. The likes of Veerappan can only be tackled by people who can play the game as per rules defined by the bandit - “Loha hi lohe ko kaat sakta hai” (you need an iron tool to cut iron). This kind of ‘tool’ can only be produced by a military academy. Police Academy cannot match that standard. The Caste and Community factorA wag said, ‘There are very few Indians in India. The rest are Jats, Marathas, Sikhs, Nagas…’ Politics are caste and community based. Voting is along these lines. Political parties fan communal passions to garner votes. Riots do not occur, they are planned and executed by men who seek power and glory. The Police serves under political bosses.The Army, on the other hand, is insulated from political influence, ensconced in cantonments. So when communal frenzy bursts, the presence of Police does not deter the rioters. Gujarat was a repeat of the mayhem in Delhi. I visited some of the worst affected areas in November 1984 and every one told the same story: Police either bolted or joined the mob.Image of Police in IndiaIt is not my intention to comment on the quality of police service we Indians receive in return for our taxes. The traffic is managed reasonably well; free and fair elections are conducted and our religious processions and ‘kumbh melas’ receive due care. The forte of our police service is the protection of national leaders. The posse of armed guards and motor cavalcades that accompany them are an imposing sight. The most threatened are the senior-most police officers themselves. It is not unusual to see a canvas colony near the residence of a senior cop. But for the rest, and in the eyes of the lay Indian, the profile of a policeman is:• He is pot bellied, betel chewing, barely able to fit into his uniform• If caught for a traffic offence, you can bribe the cop and get away• Police stations are littered with garbage and not much use is made of technology to capture and process information• If an offence is committed by a VIP’s brat, the cop will turn the Nelson’s eye• If an accident occurs, the stupid will be caught; the clever need not worry Para Military Forces and Central Police Organizations (CPOs)Before independence, Assam Rifles and the Central Reserve Police were the only two forces under the Government of India. The proliferation began thereafter, and today the combined strength of the CPOs now exceeds six lakh. There is a plan to add 1.23 lakh in the near future. We seem to raise a new force whenever a new threat appears. These forces are under the Ministry of Home Affairs and the aggregate ‘culture’ which they imbibe is that of the police.The Sixth Central Pay Commission recommended lateral absorption of Army personnel into the Police, and went on to suggest that the entrance examination and selection process should be common. The Commission wanted to bridge the gap between the Army and the CPOs. The Ministry of Home Affairs rejected the proposal summarily. The reasons advanced make pathetic reading. It has not been understood that mere numbers will not instill a sense of security amongst our citizens. The need of the hour is to identify root causes. Every time there is a Pay Commission, policemen cry and clamour for more ‘high level’ posts. Way out of this QuagmireIt is a fact that the military is upset at the treatment meted out to soldiers. If the different land forces were operating in isolation, each could evolve its own cadre structure, wear uniforms of the kind that suits them, display a dozen stars on their cars.But if they are to operate in the same environment, the norms must have a semblance of uniformity. Military and the Police must complement each other; not compete. Each has to see the viewpoint of the other. The road that divides North Block and South Block needs to be bridged; it must not turn into a moat. Some questions beg answers:• Soldiers get free rations, but have no pot bellies. Policemen get no free meal; from where do the nutrients come to sustain their enormous waistlines?• Indians are inherently untidy. Police stations can not be faulted for the litter of garbage. But why do military units give such a tidy appearance?• Corruption is a universal phenomenon, so if a cop accepts a bribe, why bother? But has anyone seen a soldier seeking protection money when deployed for Internal Security duties?The reason for the relatively greater responsiveness is just one: in the military, every promotion has to be earned; in the civil services, it is claimed as a matter of right through seniority. The Bottom LineBefore Independence, the highest ranking police officer was rated lower than Maj-Gen in the table of precedence. This inequity was rightly corrected, and for a long time every State had one Inspector General who ranked at par with a two-star soldier. Then suddenly, a snake bit the soldiers and cops found a ladder. In the wake of this Pay Commission, scores of police officers have been equated with the Army Commander and the numbers who rank above the General Officer Commanding cannot even be counted. The strength of the police forces has risen, and their status is rising. The citizens’ sense of security has diminished in the same proportion. Some recent indicators:• When a dozen terrorists sneaked into Mumbai, the Army had to be flown in from Delhi to flush them out• In the current recession when jobs are being slashed, private security industry has zoomed a whopping 25 percent• Anyone of means wants to hire a guard for his house; corporate firms hire specialists for the purpose• Some major business houses are toying with the idea of raising their own special forces on the lines of the National Security Guards, just as large condominium complexes install captive power generation plantsOur 23 lakh security persons ably led by more than 300 Director Generals of Police are unable to guarantee security for a few cricket matches because of elections next month. So the Indian Premier League will be played in South Africa. This has put a big question mark on the Commonwealth Games next year.Maj. Gen. Surjit Singh, AVSM,VSM, is an army veteran

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finally we are waking up to the Leadership failures in Police Machinery across the nation It is good to see that finally people in OZEE have started taking note of the prevailing situation on the aspects of the security of the nation. you may compromise on any aspect but the moment you compromise on the aspects of the security of your nation, you are heading for the dooms day. Army is presumed to be responsible only to deal with the external threats but lets also remember that this is the only organ of our democracy that is most organized and our last resort in case of any eventuality on that we can bank upon. In the democracies public is the overall master of the nation and every act in the running of the affairs of the nation is done in public interest, whether it is question of appointing of a Director General of police or appointment of a constable, everything is done in public interest but as a matter of fact the public interest is just a formality or ceremonial but it is the vested interests that have taken over the whole process. at the time of independence every district used to have a police officer in the rank of a captain level officer, even today District police chiefts are called Police Kaptaan. Investigation officers used to be police officers of the rank of Sub-Inspectors or Seargents which continues till date. whether it is murder of Jessica lal or Priyadarshini mattoo or Nitish Katara, or Nithari, IOs are still of the rank of Sub Inspectors( they could be promotee or Direct entrant graduates). The entire evidence in the court of law is presented by the IO and not by the district police chiefs, they neither have any accountability in this whole process nor any responsibilty but they can influence the IOs by the virtue of their position. There is not any corresponding increase in the posts of Sub Inspectors as much increase has taken place in the ranks of Director Generals. UP Police that is infamous for its corrupt and inefficient ways and remains in the news for all the wrong reasons, has 56 Three star Generals(15 DGs and 41 Addl DGs), It has 58 two star generals who are master in creating weired fantasies during the press confrences and stigmatise the people like Dr.Talwar. It has 67 one star generals. all these general rank officers know nothing about security but they can be seen gracing the various security related appointments and Intellengence appointments. the entire police leadership of post independent era has failed india by not learning the profession and developing the police appratus the way it was required, rather it began on a unhealthy competetion with armed forces in copying its functioning and that is reflected in compltete police working. In army a brigade commander has his well defined role and he commands the troops in the quantum of a brigade and takes his brigade in attack or defence but when it comes to Police DIG, they just created this rank to advance their own vested interest but it has neither accountability nor functional utility. Similar is the story with every general rank in the police forces. latest copy cat formula borrowed from armed forces by the police organizations is the adoption of DIV SIGN (formation sign) on the left or right arm of the uniform and the flag culture. it has its relevance in army in tactical modes but why public money has been blown up to get it embroidered on Khaki police uniforms , it is just a small example of the professional bankcruptcy of police leadership. The kamtes and Karkares of Maharastra Police part of so called highly euoliged Anti Terror Squad were in the ranks of DIG and IG(Brigadier and Major General) and what they mobiliged to counter the terrorists was an Inspector so called enncounter specialist Inspector salaskar, who had about 75 kills to his credit but all these specialists are killed like sitting ducks without even firing a single shot( statement of their constable who was in the same Qualis vehicle and pretended to be dead to the terrorists) but their unprofessionalism is decorated with gallantery medals on republic day. Yea! gallantry medals have got everything to do with the seniority of rank, more the seniority, higher the gallantry. In police funtioning getting gallantry award is a ritual, as it will bring the perks of tax rebate free travel and other benefits. There is Politics of Police reforms. The so called police reformer Mr.Prakash singh was questioned by me on one ocassion about so called propaganda of political interference, when questioned that whether you are operationally independent or not, he had no answers. There is no interference into operational functioni8ng of the police and if it is tolerated it reflects upon the unprofessional conduct of the police officers. basically police is the most corrupt and most powerful organ of this democracy and we people need to begin this exercise to build up public opinion on the issue of accoutability and corruption in police and police reforms from people's perspective. Through this forum I would invite all the vigilant citigens and retired officers to come together, let us begin with holding a seminar on this issue at delhi. we can be reached on following email address aridaman@nishanjustice.org please visit us at www.nishanjustice.org and also my blog http://call100.blogspot.com/ I congratulate the General for having written such a good article.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Now read the Response of IPS Lobby on above( Mr.Abhinav is an IPS officer from UP cader) heaping praises on criminal elements(molesters). The entire anti militancy operations were lead by BSF/CRPF officers on deputation and press confrences and media managemnet handled by IPS officers. GEN Rebiro and the convicted cop KANWAR PAL lead entire police forces not by personal example but by media management and press statements like politicians. Kanwar Pal set example of molesting the woman in full public view and then leading indian hockey to bankcruptcy with his examplary leadership and management skills untill he was booted out and BSF Generals must recommend naming of Jullunder hockey ground in his name and I am sure the BSF General will secure DGs commendation card for this gallant act.I read your article on the two land forces with some interest. There are some factual inaccuracies and methodology related issues that I would like to draw your kind attention to. First of all the table showing the police and the Army strengths is completely flawed. Are there only 9 officers in the Armed Forces of PB-4 grade and above? By my count there are about 750 officers of Brigadier rank and above in the Army alone. Correspondingly, the no of DIG rank and above officers in the IPS is about 1500. Considering that by your admission there are twice as many men under the police having twice as many senior officers would not be entirely out of place. Second, your vacancy position is also flawed, in the IPS too as 01/01/09 and I am quoting from the MHA's website, against an authorised strength of 3889 there are 3332 officers available, a shortfall of over 15%. Not as much as the Army but significant nonetheless. Third your comparison of a division with UP Police is flawed. A division level formation is about 20,000 men. The UP police today has a sanctioned strength of over 3,00,000. The two are not comparable in any way. And the no of sanctioned DG level posts in the government of India, including deputation reserves etc are well under 100 and not 300. Soldiers love to comment on the incompetence of the police, should we talk in the same manner about Kargil when criminal negligence by the Army formations on the ground allowed the Pakistanis to infiltrate and occupy our positions and then regaining our own territory with considerable American pressure was proclaimed as a great victory? All institutions have their strengths and weaknesses and this display of contempt and condescension by our soldiers for civilian institutions is completely uncalled for. You dared us to name a general who was a zealot, perhaps you have heard the name of General Shahbeg Singh who was killed leading the terrorists in Operation Bluestar? Colonel Purohit, recently arrested by the Maharashtra ATS is another case in point. The point is that like the civil services the Armed Forces have their black sheep too, only they are better hidden from the public gaze under the guise of national security. Your point about absorbing sidelined military personnel in the CPOs reflects a parochial mindset. How would you feel if we suggested that all those rejected in the UPSC interview were given a commission in the Army to make up for your shortfall of officers? Resettlement of young soldiers is an area of concern, but please try to see the merit in the argument that the skills and orientation required for soldiering and policing, despite the superficial similarities of uniform, may in fact be quite different. In today's world, the Police are a well established and well recognized a profession as the Armed Forces with their unique requiremnts of training, porfessional skills and orientation. The point dear sir is that we in the civil services have our professional pride too. We don't pretend we can do your job better than you and it would be nice if for a change serving and retired soldiers were gracious enough to return this courtesy. The Army has the structure it does for its own internal operational logic. You have a battalion with 20 odd officers. In a police district, there are seldom more than 2 or three IPS officers. The Armed Forces are welcome to shift to a four tier system of entry to ensure that a few thousand officers in the fast track would have promotion prospects similar to the IPS and the IAS. How that would impact your organization and operational efficiency is for you to assess. The IAS/IPS are the top executive cadre of the civil services while in the Armed Forces the officer cadre performs the whole gamut of managerial functions from platoon level upwards. You can't compare the much larger top half of a two tier pyramid with the much smaller top level of a four tier pyramid. The Colonel of 20 years service may feel reluctant in being courteous to a DIG on only 14 years of service. But please consider the fact that the DIG may be a product of IIT/IIM, and he is responsible for a division consisting of three to four districts and a population in excess of four-five million. Length of service may be an absolute value in the Armed Forces but it is quite strange to expect that civil institutions can be structured in such rigid terms. Your prescription for tackling the terrorist menace flies in the face of historical experience. Tactical prowess of the kind the military excels in is of course required to combat specific instances of terror but it needs strategic leadership and good governance too something that is best left to civilians. The experience of terrorism in Punjab, where it was the inspiring leadership of two IPS officers, Shri Ribeiro and Shri Gill that turned the tide, is a case in point. If terrorism could be countered by military might alone the Kashmir Valley and the North-east would have been silent a long ago. No right minded civil servant in the IAS/IPS would deny that the civil services really need to get their act together and start performing. Corruption and incompetence in our services are a serious cause for concern. But at the same time one has to appreciate the enormous pressures and constraints faced by today's civil servants. The police population ratio in India is far below international norms, we have meagre resources for training. Welfare of our men is much neglected. But if we talk about improving the pay and working conditions of our police forces and this will be opposed by the Armed Forces because in 1935 a captain of the Army was the SSP of a district, then I think meaningful police reforms will always be held hostage to the izzat and iqbal of the Armed Forces. You express contempt at the fact that the Army is often requested to assist civil authorities for a whole range of situations. The nation invests roughly three times as many resources in its Armed Forces each year as it does on the police and the Armed Forces are the only insititution that has the specialized equipment and the trained manpower to deal with such requests. The Armed Forces are not doing anyone a favour by responding to such requests. This is very much a part of their duties in democratic societies and to suggest otherwise shows a feudal/colonial mindest. Even in the US the Armed Forces are routinely called out to assist in relief and rescue after major natural disasters/accidents . The Armed Forces are an institution every Indian is justifiably proud of. Your professionalism, your sense of dedication, your discipline are something worth admiring and emulating. But of late the kind of comments that have come out of our soldiers are biased, ill-informed and display a shocking lack of perspective about the challenges facing our country. warm regards Abhinav Kumar-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Here is what has been written by another IPS/IASi am forwarding this mail for the knowledge of all the army officers who are short on facts and rely more on hearsay..pls have patience to read it. regards. For the past two years, officers of the Defense Forces of India have been undertaking a co-ordinated campaign to circulate publically articles featuring their case for a better deal in their pay scales. The main thrust has been led by the army officers. The writers are retired army officers, working either singularly or under various wraps of NGOs. Most of these NGOs are created or funded by the Army Headquarters and some of them created under the general umbrella of the MoD but not for the promotion of pay packets but for other more relevent issues. The campaign is well coordinated, and cannot be read in isolation. When one writer contributes a paper to the newspaper, after a gap in time, another officer writer takes over the cause. The strategy is that readers must not be allowed to forget that there is an Indian army with a lost cause on pay matters. That writers from the other two wings of the defense forces are so scanty in their presence, reveals that the army officers as a block have been assigned their tasks from within the ranks of the active service officers to plead their case. They are being provided with arguments and information from within the active ranks. Data which does not favour them, is quietly kept back and the picture that emerges is that army officers have been given a bad deal by the Government of India, their rightful case has been ignored and the faithful army still remains loyal to the government inspite of all the injuries heaped upon the Services. In all righteousness the Central Government has in the past preferred to keep silent against all the rag-tag provocations provided to it, allowing the institutional organisations to take up the matters of revision of scales of pay and other perks through discussions, presentations and proper channel. Such graces unfortunately have not been preferred by army officers,who in the past have believed thatif a push is required, give a shove. In the proceedings of the Fourth Pay Commission the Inter Defense Pay Committee decided to seek the then novel scheme of long scales with rank pay. The recomendadtions were taken in a delegation to the Chairman of the Pay Commission, Justice Singhal, and led by the Minister Arun Singh. Justice Singhal was told that the Commission should accept these recomendations in toto and integrated them into the main final Report. He was told that these recomendations had the consent of the Prime Minister and did not require further discussion. The bluff was, that the PM was not even aware of this project. Once the recomendations were accepted without discussion, it was found that the project had its inherent failings, and efforts were then made to wriggle out of the scheme. Ten years past by to water down the effects of this blunder. The Fifth Pay Commission also went past and the army officers accepted their boosted pays with some murmer, but when it was time for the arrival of the Six Pay Commission, the officers planned a campaign much ahead of time. They pulled out a new war book, prepared campaigns targetting issues which other services may conjure up while pleading their own cases. These officers then started a bombardment to soften up their battleline shores. The main 'enemy of the people' was the IAS lobby to start with; the focus was also the group of IAS officers who were posted in the MoD and the Min of Fin. For a considerable time this campaign of disinformation was carried out brazenly countrywide. It did not have the desired effect and the Pay Commission issued its Reort to the great dislike of these officers. The three Service chiefs were goaded to protest and the Navy Chief also decided to act in the grey zone of mutinous conduct. A weak governemt failed to descipline him. The recomendations were reviewed and modified. It was a bad precedence. We laid back with the hope that now peace will prevail. How badly this was underestimated, is now revealed. The devil is not asleep. It keeps vigil in the Messes spread nationwide and we now have a new string of writings coming up again into public circulation which need to be noticed. To the great glee of serving army officers, and their reading pleasure, the latest of such articles was put in circulation coming from the pen of a relatively unknown soldier, namely Major General Surjit Singh PVSM, VSM. He floated his article on the internet(and maybe put it also in some erudite journal) on 26th March 2009. This article was not supposed to enter the civilian circuit, but the article was so warped in its presentation, that as a show of proof of disinformation, it came to be shared outside the defense circles. Woe be to Major General Surjit Singh now. He though he was being orginal in not taking on the IAS lobby. Instead he has put his hand and head both into a nest of wasps--namely the Indian Police Service and its other subordinate ranks. This article after its journey has now come to me for my reading. I have preferred to reply to this long note sentence by sentence so that anyone not familier with the orginal article, does not stand to loose on the various issues on record. It is hoped the original writer will have the pateince to read my note with his evening 'chota' and have the forebearance to rewrite his own original essay. I consider myself a bit qualified for this job. I have been associated in one or the other capacity with the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and also the 6th Pay Commission. Probably the only officer with this distinction. Within my own Service, I have not been known to be the most courtious of officer, but be brash, blunt and no respector of ranks when there was a cause to fight. In taking up the issues of the orginal writer I will henceforth refer to him by his filial name of Surjit. It is short and sweet and occupies only a corner of the line in my typing machine. I offer my profound apologies to any reader who feels offended with what I need to present. There is nothing personal. It is just that Surjit has put his hand into a nest of wasps, and so he is entitled to be stung!!! Quote" If India is united and intact today, it is because of its military...I dare you to name a colonel or a general who is either communal or a zealot." Unquote. It is very modest of Surjit to put such a small number of required names for an answer, namely "a" . But we will start from the beginning. Surjit is wrong in his statement that it is the military which has kept the nation united. The case is true for Pakistan, and not India. The so called steel frame of bureaucrasy has been the IAS-IPS and some major Central Services whose contribution to keep India united far out weighs the contribution of the 'military'. I am not speaking thus because I am one of the has beens. Experts woldwide when they have commented on the affairs of South Asian nations, have acknowledged this fact. It is the civil services of the country which have also protected the defense forces from unwanted attacks to spread dissentions within the ranks, and a big contribution has come from our intelligence services. We have enemies who have attempted to target the defense forces to act outside their discipled living and working. But to be fair to the Forces, they have in the past acted in some ways which could have brought populations to spin out of the Indian nation. Two examples should suffice, Nagaland and Sikkim. Sikkim was hurt first in a short spell when it was brought into the Union and the army was deployed to quell protest. The strong arm tactics used nearly helped our enemies to get a rebellion successful. Nagaland troubles are the making of army mishandling. The people have neen known to be freedom loving, but so do all others living elsewhere. In Nagaland's case the army handling was such which left much to be done. Even today the sense of alienation felt locally is charectorised by anti army conduct. No sir, India's internal problems have been taken care of by its bureaucrasy excluding the military. The military has taken care of India's international borders and only moderately successful at that. Surjit wants us to name only one colonel and one general in seperate categories. Of course, our lists in both the categories run into pages. But to freshen up Surjit's memory, we have Colonel Purohit and General Shahbeg Singh which fill the required number. And what about General Massih for stealing the affection of a junior officer's wife. Surjit, you should not have started this debate unless you had the help of an archive of recorded deeds. Quote" On Republic Day, as they march down the Rajpath, the lay Indian cannot tell between the Army and the Police....their swords, rifles and even badges of ranks are similar... the Commission recomended that a lot could be achieved if soldiers retiring from the Army laterally shifted to the police force".Unquote. The Indian Police force was historically created out of the existing Indian Army. The civilian police force was given the same ranks as of the army because they were laterally shifted in 1861-63 to create the police force. All military traditions were transferred Even after 150 years of seperate identities, the rural population of the States of UP. Bihar and MP refer the rank of Supdt. of Police, as 'Kaptan sahib' following the order when army officers holding the ranks of Captains were sent out on deputation into civilian duties with the local police forces. To facilitate this lateral transfer, since the army captains were deficient in their education being only High School or Senior Cambridge pass, the orginal inductions in civil police forces were also kept as Matric and SC pass. It was only after Independence that the basic qualification for IPS was raised to Graduate degree. If the Commission was now recomending again a lateral transfer from Army to Police, Surjit and his friends have been vocally protesting. Today even the Indian Police does not want the concept of lateral transfer of Army officers into police ranks. Officers coming from the defense forces will face the full blast of the hot winds of civilian working, and end up to grieve their situations. This is a lessson learnt also when ECOs have been moving today who finally end up requiring the protection of their civilian colleagues when they find the Armed battalion postings more conducive to their working. We agree with Surjit that there need not be lateral postings, and because MHA has agreed with us, Surjit need not plead on this cause henceforth. His point is taken. Surjit is still wrong that the "lay Indian cannot tell the difference between the Army and police personnel on parade". The distinction is well marked nowadays. First the Defense force contingents come first in the order of marching. Their weaponery is different. Their uniforms are different. They march more sloppily then the police contingents. Originally there was only one marching contingent trophy. When this trophy was consecutively won by marching police contingents, a seperate trophy was added seperating the recognition for defence contingents and police contingents. The army contingents are essentially collected for the Army Day celebrations prededing the Republic Day. AGCR objects to high expenses for R Day, but Government has allocated approved expenditure for Formation day celebrations. Thus the AHQ is able to show that R-Day arrangements are less expensive to the government. Surjit has laid a table to show there is great difference in the formations of the defense forces and police in the counrty. I do not find his sourse of data, but he is wide off the mark. May be it suited him to keep the realistic data under cover, otherwise how could he give his presentation to us stupid folks! According to his table, there are 9 officers in the army above PB4 grade, while the police has over 250 officers. This is the Brigagier's rank. Both numbers are wrong. The army formations have more than 790 officers in the rank of Brigadiers, while in the all India system of the Police, this number is closer to 1500 persons. Surjit lost himself in a "typo" Again in the figures of annual intake of officers, he shows 1050 regulars, while indicates 60 for IPS. He is wide off the mark. His army data is an approx. while for IPS it should read 38 IPS average per year. Because of the poor intake of IPS officers for political reasons ( essentially to break the all India charector of the service), there is a standing vacancy of 568 officers to be urgently filled up to provide manpower to Central Government police jobs. In the column for Defficiency in officers, Surjit is showing 11500 vacancies, which is what is being touted by AHQ officially. In the POLICE HE SHOWS NIL VACANCIES. Suits his case, but this is patent falsehood. We have shown the vacancy for IPS officers. The all India picture for State police services is closer to 6500 vacancies in officer ranks and 149,000 in other lower ranks. Bihar Police alone has 40,000 vacancies in its ranks. The same is the fate of other datas left in the diagram. Surjit is bent on distorting data to put his case. My advise is: Do not pick on the police for your woes. In the matter of levels of entry, Surjit submits that in the Army there are two levels of induction, at officers and as enlisted men. In the police he informs the entry is at four levels, as constable, as inspectors, subordinate service cadre and the IPS. Wrong again. Entry into the Army comes from different selection processes. At the officer level, there is the regular SSC, then again the ECO level, then subordinate service level for specialist assignments and finally the direct selection for enlisted soldiers. In the police services, it is the IPS, then the State service cadres GOs, then SI/ASI level, then HC clerks and finally the ordinary constables rank. In stating these levels it is not understood what was the writer trying to suggest. Is this discrimination? In Promotion Prospects and Terms of Engagement. Surjit launches himself with a wrong statement." All police personnel retire at the age of 60 years". In Kerala, all police personal retire at the age of 55 years. In Nagaland and in Para Military organisations, officers upto the rank of DIGs retire at the age of 57 years . All State police personnel generally retire at the age of 58 years. IPS officers and those officers holding rank of IGPs retire at the age of 60 years. They number less than 90 retirements per year nationwide. Wrong again Surjit when you say that all IPS officers retire at the level of DGPs. Most of the IPS rank officers cross the DIG level, many also cross the IPG level, Most of the IPS officers crawl to the rank of Addl. DGs and only very few, which is 5 to 8 percent of the individual cadres, retire holding the rank of DGs. Only one person will be the State DGP having all State magisterial powers! Right now the Army as 54 similar ranking officers. So who should be complaining. The argument on promotional opportunities stated, is also full of holes. The army trains its officers to primarily lead the battalion formations. In the police services, the officer cadre is trained to head the District administration. The District SP should be holding this charge for an average of 16 years and see an averge of three transfer. But this is not the reality today. I know an extreme case of an IPS officer being transferred 17 times in 91 days, and he was NO crook infact one of most upright officers in his state cadre. Being transferred six or seven times in ten years for a field officer today is the norm. So Surjit do not eye the pastures across the fence. The situation is far worst here then in your grounds. Surjit has a complaint on cadre management. So do we. But over the years I have come to realise that nowhere in the world is there an ideal system to governance, and in India, we seem to be better off even with all the infirmities. Comparisons with the army and police are impracticable and there is no meeting point since the roles are different, the clients are different and the enemies are different. Surjit is again on a weak wicket on Leader-Led ratio. Using untested hearsay evidence he marches into a bush!. He says there are 400 officers in UP police and half of them are at least in the rank of DIGs and there are about 20 officers in the rank of DGs.Surjit is right in this information he uses, but what he hides is the fact that UP Police also has about 3,00,000 personnel sanctioned by the government. This officers strength is correct. The strength of higher ranks also includes duties which are missing in the Army and there cannot be any fair claim on parity. Now Surjit shows a really ego problem on record. He finds fault with his men going to the rescue of Prince trapped in a borehole. Here he should complaint to his bosses, to say no to to such silly civilian requests. May be Surjit would have a different say had he been facing the cameras and talking to the press when this small operation was on. Someone else in the Military stole the thunder ! Surjit does not know that a Head Constable is operationally equal in status to a DGP, because both in law can open fire without the need for an magistrate around if the situation demands. The HC is a 'senior officer' in the police force. If the army finds the rank situation intolarable, then they should not attend meetings and depute officers of such ranks who can take decisions on behalf of their department on the spot. This does not happen unfortunately. As for terrorisat attacks, and riots incidents when army help is sought. This is essentially a case of the missing higher fire power. By design, the MoD has directed the government on the advise of the Military not to provide equal fire power to the police forces. This is a tactical move and Surjit is unaware. But we are. Para military forces get the obsolete fire power discarded by the Army for their use. The debate on INSAS rifles being given to the police is long and glorious. Worst is the case of AK 54 weapons coming to the police. The Army by design has kept an upper hand for itself and Surjit need not complaint on this call of duty. The Police would love to see the Army stay at the Border, but then at its own terms. The police is kept weak by design, and not by fault. Surjit questions: What impels Police to turn to the Army for help? The answer according to Surjit is better leadership qualities. Wrong Surjit. The police lacks resourses, denied by the Army to it. Man to man there is no difference in leadership. In civilian situations the police leadership has repeated trimphed over Army leadership, and the most glaring example of failed army leadership was the Golden Temple seige. It was only the police that trimphed finally and without shedding a drop of blood. We do not grudge the battles that the Army has fought but the secret is that that second rung defense units triumped in war where the front line units collapsed. The Kargil war is a well kept secret of first desperation and then truimph in battle. But the best man was not recognised here. So let us not talk of leadership, because there are many issues involved in this. On Caste and Community factors, Surjit states that Police serves political ends. In riots, police has run away or joined the mob. If the army can control the mob, it is because of superior fire power which is known to the mob. Police are armed with sticks. This is well known, so this cannot be held against the police which first is already outnumbered by very thin presence, and again poorly equipped to handle mob frenzy. Incidently police in India is not special in this situation. Worldwide, the national guards and the armed forces are called in for short spells by civilian authorities against organised agitation, revolutions and mob frenzy. It is not an issue for pay revision. Surjit is in his element best for his contempt of the police force in the paragraph on the image of the police in India. I am wondering how a police image is involved in matters of the 6th Pay Commission and the case for the Army. The people get the police they deserve and they also get their army they deserve. Surjit ends his ditribe against the police by taking on the Paramilitary organisations. He does not want competition but cooperation. Surjit has perhaps little field experience working with the paramilitary units of the government. Units of BSF, CRPF have for decades been working under army commands. ITBP forces have been working in cooperation and not under the command of the Army. There has been no competition, but in joint operations it has been found and the AHQ accepts that the ITBP is a better force than the army unit when they have performed togather in inclement zones. As for corruption, the army and the police are brothers at arms. It is a matter of where one is working. At the border, the army also helps itself as the police does in its own area of operations. Surjit attempts to being cynical and falls flat when he redicules the police force for not being able to provide security to the cricket IPL. What perhaps has not been told to Surjit was the fact that the Taliban had laid out allegedly a major plan to cause major incidents, similar to the Bombay episode involving players and people togather. IPL can wait for another season. But then that is how gentlmen in the army think! Gautam Kaul, India