Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and a majority of the Chief Ministers gave the high-profile conference convened by the Home Ministry to discuss the Administrative Reforms Commission’s recommendations on police reforms a miss on Monday.
A change in the original agenda - from internal security to police reforms - led to the sheer disinterest among those preferring to stay away. The ARC had submitted its recommendations on police reforms six years ago.
Only seven Chief Ministers, mostly from Congress-ruled States, attended the conference. The Prime Minister, who was in town, also preferred skipping it.
The Chief Ministers who attended the meeting were - Naveen Patnaik (Odisha), Tarun Gogoi (Assam), Vijay Bhauguna (Uttarkhand), Manik Sarkar (Tripura) Nabam Tuki(Arunachal Pradesh), Mukul Sangma (Meghalaya) and Neiphiu Rio (Nagaland).
The rest of the Chief Ministers sent their Ministers as representatives to the meeting to read out their speech.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal came to the venue in Vigyan Bhawan to meet Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde to appeal for the clemency to Khalistan terrorist DS Bhullar but he did not attend the conference.
Under the chairmanship of Veerappa Moily, the second ARC was set up in August, 2005 to suggest measures for achieving a “proactive, responsive, accountable, sustainable and efficient administration for the country at all levels of the Government”. The Commission submitted its report in June, 2007 to the Government. Out of its total 165 recommendations, 153 fall in the domain of the States.
The conference was on the fifth report of the ARC on police reforms, management of public order, reforms in the criminal justice system, federal crimes and special laws and the role of civil society and media in the management of public order. The Chief Ministers from the Opposition party-ruled States in their written speech vehemently objected the recommendations of the ARC, alleging the Centre’s hidden agenda of encroaching upon State’s powers.
“No words can express the importance of this conference. Public order and police today in India is facing challenges. With the ever-changing social landscape and the ever-rising public expectations, the load on the police force will only increase further with an enhanced focus on accountability and transparency in police functioning,” Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said after inaugurating the meet, seeking States’ support in implementing the recommendations of ARC. Petroleum Minister Moily, the author of the report, was also present in the CM’s conference.