VOL. XXXXVI NO.4
OCTOBER 2020
CONTENTS
CHINA: Business, Technology & Economy in 2020
The Art & Power of Nudging M S Narayan
Partnerships in the Age of Covid Panel Discussion
Transforming India & Indian Businesses Pradeep Deshpande
Women Leader Series: Policing in Covid Times & Beyond
Lakshmi Venkatachalam
Panel Discussion
EDITOR Gp Capt R Vijayakumar (Retd), VSM EDITORIAL SUPPORT Gp Capt Dr R Venkataraman (Retd) LAYOUT EXECUTIVE D Rajaram
MADRAS MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION Management Center, New No.240 Pathari Road ﴾Off Anna Salai﴿, Chennai 600 006 Ph:044‐2829 1133 Email:mma@mmachennai.org | mandate@mmachennai.org www.facebook.com/mmachennai
PANELISTS
W
hen the Covid crisis struck India, at a
investigation? How much manpower can the government
moment’s notice, our police force swung into
provide to the police?”
action and came to the rescue of the
He highlighted the shortage of manpower as a major
government by maintaining order on the roads, taking care
problem for the police. “Out of two million police personnel
of citizen’s safety, standing behind the health workers and
in India, more than 75,000 go for paramilitary duty and
doing a commendable job in combating the pandemic,” said
roughly a million are available for protecting the common
Mr Raghavan. He praised the Indian police for grabbing the
man,” Mr Raghavan said. He lamented that in India, people
opportunity presented to them and proving that they are a
expect the government to do everything and indicated there
force to reckon with.
is plenty of scope for NGOs and Private Sector to chip in and
“In the days of my career, the police approaching the
strengthen the resources of the police.
private sector for support was stigmatised. Today, fortunately, the situation has changed. Recently, I am told,
Multiple responsibilities
the Maharashtra government quickly and generously
“Even though the police are the first responders for any
accorded permission to the state police to seek support from
public crisis, our police are woefully understaffed and heavily
the private sector for their efforts in managing the
overworked,” said Mr D Sivanandhan. “Since 1945 to 1947,
pandemic,” said Mr R K Raghavan.
36.000 police personnel have been killed and they have
He however raised certain pertinent questions. “Were our police equipped to handle the situation? Is it fair to expect them to carry out so many tasks and execute varied instructions like, for instance, enforcing closing down of shops at different times on different days and which led to the unfortunate Sathankulam episode that is under CBI
made the supreme sacrifice of laying down their lives in upholding their responsibility. Over 74,500 have so far been affected by Covid. More than 435 have died in fighting the pandemic, with Maharashtra accounting for 50%,” he stated. On the roles that police play, he said, “They take care of
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
law and order, crime control, crime detection, management
implementation falls on the police. On the one
of traffic during normal times and special festivals, VIP
hand, there is shortage of manpower. On the other
movement, pandemic management and so on.”
hand, the duties keep on increasing. Therefore, the government should do a detailed costbenefit
From peak fitness to depression… Mr Sivanandhan elaborated the reasons for police personnel
analysis before implementing new social laws. •
through a separate wing or consider the
ending up with depression. “We recruit the best candidates
requirement of additional manpower to the police
with the best physique for the police force. But by the time they turn 30, they wade through multiple problems like
The government can think of enforcing social laws
when implementing new laws. •
The government can include ‘’reaching out to the
having to work for 12 to 14 hours per day, irregular food
police” under the permissible list of activities to
habits, lack of leave or rest and unlimited stress. There are
qualify for the 2% mandatory CSR spend of
no rest rooms for women police while they are on outdoor
companies, through a proper mechanism. This
activities. The police have an endless list of bosses including
could
their superiors, bureaucrats, Press, TV, Politicians, Courts and Commissions. Anybody can pull them up. They have no right to form a trade union or any association. According to
include
activities
like
providing
infrastructure, technology, equipment and health facilities to the police. This will lead to the police getting lot of support from private sector.
a study, many police have died between the age of 37 and 41 from stress induced illnesses.” Thanks to the effects of Covid, there will be a spurt in property and credit card related crimes, cybercrimes and chain snatching incidents. Many crimes will be committed using smartphone or technology as a tool, warned Mr Sivanandhan and indicated that the public must exercise great vigil. His suggested a number of steps to strengthen the police
Were our police equipped to handle the situation? Is it fair to expect them to carry out so many tasks and execute varied instructions like, for instance, enforcing closing down of shops at different times on different days... How much manpower can the government provide to the police?
force: •
Police have to upgrade technology.
•
The Police Act 1861 has not been revised so far. Amendments have to be made to the Act, to
• •
Mr Sivanandhan quoted from his experience of
reflect the current situation.
providing 30 stateofthe art gyms for the police in
Nonessential arrests should stop. This will free
Maharashtra when he served as DGP there with the project
the police of considerable work load.
undertaken completely with the public support. We say,
The physical fitness of the police personnel needs to be improved through SIP– Systematic Investment (in Health) Programs.
“Doctor, Heal Thyself.” The police too as Defenders must defend themselves, he said. Dr Meeran Chadha Borwankar pointed out that we did
•
The police should focus on ‘Team Building.’
•
Whenever new social laws are promulgated, like
not remember the police before Covid and wondered if we
banning of smoking in public places, the onus for
would forget their role after the Covid days. According to
48
OCTOBER 2020
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
with the police. “Now, police use their vehicles to take the accused persons to the courts. These can be avoided by switching to virtual mode. We need to scale up ecourts where trials can be done online and evidence can be presented on e platforms. For prison inmates, we should provide timely medical support using telemedicine. By these measures, we can greatly strengthen our police force,” she said. research, she said that on an average, the police work for 14 hours a day and for 365 days in a year. The Epidemic Act 1897 is now being used by our governments to manage the pandemic but its provisions are
In the Q&A Session, the panellists answered a variety of questions. Do our allwomen police stations serve their purpose?
not known to many of us, she said. She argued that the 30%
Dr Meeran: It is now realised that the allwomen police
vacancy in the police force all across India must be
station is not a great idea, considering the ground realities.
highlighted and quickly remedied. “It may be shocking but
Instead of having a limited number of allwomen police
the finding from a survey is that 37% of the police are
stations, all police stations should have on their rolls, women
demoralised and would not want to work in the department,
police, along with men.
given an option,” she said.
How does our police force compare with their counterparts in other countries?
Academia must research on policing Dr Meeran said that all police personnel undergo 6 to 9 months of rigorous training on recruitment. But, only 6% of them go through inservice refresher training. She appealed to organisations like MMA and ORF to collaborate with the police to develop case studies and train the constabulary on life skills, so they can stay motivated. She suggested that our academia should do extensive research
Dr Meeran: I did an internship under Fulbright Hubert H Humphrey Fellowship program and interacted for a year in the US with the police there and later for four months with the police of Australia. Based on my experience, I rate our Indian police as more disciplined despite their numerous challenges and that they carry out a much wider spectrum of duties and without any overtime.
on policing and criminal justice system in India and suggest
Have we captured the lessons from the pandemic?
improvements which can be taken up for implementation.
Mr Sivanandhan: Many of the lessons are converted as
“At present, there is very little research done in these areas,”
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and these are now
she remarked.
available in states like Telengana and Maharashtra.
Dr Meeran pitched for upgrading technology available
If there is another major spike in Covid, are our police OCTOBER 2020
49
Business Mandate fountainhead of excellence
prepared?
How can we deal with the VIP culture with the VIPs
Mr Sivanandhan: Covid came without any warning, yet
expecting special treatment in our country?
our police have so far handled it admirably well. In Mumbai,
The panellists pointed out that today thanks to public
they have created facilities for 75,000 beds. The outbreak in
awareness, media campaigns and social media impact, many
Dharavi was handled very well, and handling of Dharavi has
VIPs shun special treatment. They are concerned that if
now become a model for United Nations. So, there is no
someone takes a photo of them demanding or being given
doubt that the police can handle any future spikes too.
special treatment and posts it in social media, it will affect
How can we change the mindset of our people to follow
them adversely. Mr Raghavan singled out the impartial role
Covid precautions without fail?
played by CISF deployed in airports. They treat everyone on
The panellists felt that we need to run more awareness
a same footing and they have set an ideal example, he said.
programs, because, if we are not aware of the rules of the
What role can the Retired IPS Officers associations play in
game, then we are going to lose more lives.
the current situation?
How can we improve the public experience of dealing with
Mr Raghavan: They have very limited role to play as they
the police?
have no authority. I may be hauled over the coals for saying
Mr Raghavan: If systems are designed in such a way that there will be less facetoface contacts with the police, then it will lead to a better experience and efficiency. In that case,
so. But that is the reality. At the same time, there have been individual bright spots from the retired officers like Mr Julio Ribeiro, who are able to create an impact.
complaints can be filed online with proper supporting
The police, having gained an invaluable experience in
documents, which in turn can be converted to a FIR. But for
handling the pandemic, should document the experience;
this to happen on a scale, the police stations should have the
and create enough training materials and literature from the
best connectivity possible. They should be given top priority
Covid lessons to train future police recruits and for posterity.
because police stations are, in fact, a symbol of governance.
If you don’t learn lessons, halfthe battle is lost.
50
OCTOBER 2020