Cops, criminals and phone calls
Uttarakhand police are in a predicament. As though caught between the devil and the blue sea, they are in the maze of indecisiveness as to what they should do or what they should not. If they are not pro-active against the criminals, be they in the mining or involved in the land forgery cases, they face the ire of the people. And if they strike fear in such criminals enough the politicians pour out their annoyance on them, saying that they should desist from doing anything that maligns the ‘fair’ face of the state. “Where would we go, can we tell usIJ Forget about doing something new, we are daily picking up phone calls from the high and the mighty, asking us not to do anything that darkens the image of the stateIJ’ asked a very senior cop despairingly. All the upright cops from top down and bottom up are, doubtless, facing the same kind of frustration, when it comes to coming down heavily on the law-breakers and frauds. The question is-does the same rule of bringing infamy on the state apply when they proceed to curb down the petty criminals too who help the politicians to settle scores with the rivalsIJ The question is natural as the state is deemed to be an ‘oasis of peace’ amidst the plethora of crimes happening all aroundIJ If the criminals are exposed it might malign Uttarakhand as it would prove that there is little or no difference between other states and what is extolled as Debobhumi.
Elusive Babus
The chief secretary had a harrowing time while leading a press conference after the recent cabinet meeting was held. The cabinet meeting threw decisions on as many as 20 crucial issues.
As per the norms, the chief secretary, standing equivalent to cabinet secretary, is empowered to disclose the decisions the cabinet takes to the media.
What happens is that he leads the press conference while being aided by the secretaries in charge of the departments concerned. However, on June 20, the chief secretary found himself in a pitiable state as a very few secretaries were present to help him take on the media queries. Realising how vulnerable he was, he had some secretaries summoned.
But many chose to give the press conference a slip to the utter discomfiture of the chief secretary. left with little option, the chief secretary asked all the principal secretaries and secretaries, who departments' matter discussed in cabinet, to be religiously present whenever a cabinet briefing is held.