WEAK BOTTOM AND HEAVY TOP

Why and how does the system fail to deliver goods very often of late? Law and order is no exception to this bizarre development. The less said the better in terms of internal security, more specifically with extensive coverage and endangering threats to local citizens and foreign nationals residing in any part of the country from outfits such as naxalites and terrorists both from within and from across the borders. What a frequency and how stunning the way the things are unfurling day by day? Hardly a month passes without any major outbursts of violence and deaths caused in some major centre or other. The whole nation shivers at passing of each fortnight or month because anything can happen to anyone anywhere in any ways. Intelligence gathered properly or otherwise in the field, villages, towns, district, state, metros and forwarded to higher-ups in the HQrs is often dealt with routinely and passed on to the users and decision makers from time to time methodically mainly to fill up the gaps or justify their existence. Looking to the usage of their data over a period of time the gathering functionaries take their jobs not very seriously. Such a to and fro communication loses its significance or validity invariably leading to a situation wherin both the levels lose sight of an emergency and fail to deliver the service for which they have been engaged and employed by the government. Similar is a position obtaining with the intelligence agencies of defence forces and Intelligence Bureau within India as well as Research and Analysis Wing meant for external intelligence across the borders and foreign countries. Data Collection, scrutiny, assessment, and communication to layers both vertical and horizontal have not been streamlined and standardised from the point of view of its utility in the ultimate analysis. Reliability, accountability-warranting action in the short as well as long run are also found wanting unfortunately. Terror attacks in Mumbai on 26th November 2009 is a grim reminder of such a situation prevailing in the country. It is no doubt a great eye-opener to those in charge of internal security. They have learnt at last but of course at a heavy cost the fact that there is a terrible mismatch or lack of requisite coordination between defence personnel and civil authorities on the one hand and similarly within the civil hierarchy among the different agencies being the equals in rank and discipline. Over the years i.e three-four decades down the line in the administration of the country the best in the All India Services reach and occupy the very top positions in the government of India at Delhi purely on the basis of CR dossiers cleverly and consciously built up over the years by the careerists while the most deserving and devoted or committed to their consciousness and Constitution of India, genuinely interested in selfless service of the people are shunted badly and sidelined on some flimsy, rather fabricated or discriminated ground which goes unnoticed in the public. The action and decision of some selfish heads of state governments and their yes men / henchmen is, more often than not, challenged rarely by the regulators or the adjudicating authorities. Who is to check this trend and encourage or ensure the posting of such real and able leaders / individuals to the top positions in Delhi?. If such a trend is not achieved in the near future, the third-ratters would certainly continue to rule the roost for a long time. It is rather strange that only the political executives namely the Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Maharashtra Chief Minister Deshmukh and his Home minister R.R.Patil have been sacked while none of the officials from PMO, Union Home Ministry, Defence Ministry nor from State PHQ or Secretariat have been touched or rebuked for their commissions and omissions. No action or less action or late action or no-action at the field has been investigated or commented upon openly till date. Absence of coordination and support from various quarters was pitiably manifested during the crisis period – every responsible official found busy with his evening programmes as usual. It indeed reflects the inherent qualities of the career-oriented individuals rather than those of duty-conscious or motivated personnel to public calls.