I wonder when the drug menace will engulf the Tricity as the neighbouring countryside of which the Tricity is the capital has hordes of drug addicts and corresponding deaddiction centres. The reasons why drugs have not yet become a fashion here yet are because the policing is a little better here, families are more educated, families have access to support structures and timely detection and treatment centres AND THE PEOPLE IN POWER RESIDE HERE and want to curb the drug menace to safeguard their own families.
But the drug menace has its own way of making its presence felt sooner than later as political institutions crumble and morality/ethics degenerate.
This menace can only be curbed if
1 Detection and treatment both become easy, cheap and accessible plus
2 Prevention happens at source and
3 There is political will to root it out from the countryside itself (which is a tall order considering that keeping a man addicted is the only way to have bonded labour as our labour laws and their enforcement machinery do not allow the employer to exist in a satisfactory manner and run their businesses).
Maybe our local office of the narcotics control bureau has some information on the quality and cost of treatment of the deaddiction centres in the city and the states. or this information is available with the various think tanks such as the CRRID or departments of the educational institutions
Thursday, 11 October 2012
Police Training in Chandigarh
Came across a department in Punjab Univ Chandigarh- sector 14 for police training called the Centre for Police Administration (U.I.E.A.S.S).
There also seems to be a school for forensics at Punjab University called the Institute of Forensic Science & Criminology besides other departments of interest to policemen.
Besides this training institute other known training places at Chandigarh are the central detective school and the forensic lab at sector 36.
I hope we have better qualified policemen with the passage of time due to a vigilant citizenry which keeps decision makers accountable for results.
There also seems to be a school for forensics at Punjab University called the Institute of Forensic Science & Criminology besides other departments of interest to policemen.
Besides this training institute other known training places at Chandigarh are the central detective school and the forensic lab at sector 36.
I hope we have better qualified policemen with the passage of time due to a vigilant citizenry which keeps decision makers accountable for results.
Big opportunity- need for a northern India EPA
There is no agency (govt or private) in North India for detecting and monitoring pollution control norms as per the best world standards (Indian standards remain only on paper due to lack of political will). Ground Water pollution is rampant in Ludhiana and other industrialised cities where unscrupulous industrialists dump toxic wastes in deep borewells with impunity contaminating age old water table many miles from the place of origin thus affecting citizens across the border also. Surface water contamination in all rivers, streams and water bodies can be observed by laymen even.
The Central Pollution Control Board, state pollution control boards, central groundwater board, Wapcos and other water agencies exist mainly to extract bribes and show their inadequacy to the courts in the form of endless paper reports. They are staffed with political appointees and been deliberately sabotaged by the political and bureaucratic executive. Men of calibre and mettle are not known but can be found even among the govt machinery but they tend to maintain a low profile.
Cancer and diseases of unknown origin due to toxic chemicals specially agrochemicals now are a grim reality in the states. Municipalities have run down and poorly maintained drinking water treatment and sewage treatment plants. Garbage disposal has become a deliberate problem. The legislatures have crushed their own laws by destroying the edifice of the law enforcement machinery and the judiciary.
Yet the human need for better governance remains intact and there is a market to be filled by the void created by the arrogance and debauchery of those in power.
Private labs are few and far between. Training colleges and institutions for environmental science such as the environmental science department of Punjab university are few and a few alumni from the chemistry and related departments are more prone to formulate new narcotic drugs which has a huge grip in this region. The narcotics control bureaus are politically controlled and offer miniscule opposition to this industry.
The Central Pollution Control Board, state pollution control boards, central groundwater board, Wapcos and other water agencies exist mainly to extract bribes and show their inadequacy to the courts in the form of endless paper reports. They are staffed with political appointees and been deliberately sabotaged by the political and bureaucratic executive. Men of calibre and mettle are not known but can be found even among the govt machinery but they tend to maintain a low profile.
Cancer and diseases of unknown origin due to toxic chemicals specially agrochemicals now are a grim reality in the states. Municipalities have run down and poorly maintained drinking water treatment and sewage treatment plants. Garbage disposal has become a deliberate problem. The legislatures have crushed their own laws by destroying the edifice of the law enforcement machinery and the judiciary.
Yet the human need for better governance remains intact and there is a market to be filled by the void created by the arrogance and debauchery of those in power.
Private labs are few and far between. Training colleges and institutions for environmental science such as the environmental science department of Punjab university are few and a few alumni from the chemistry and related departments are more prone to formulate new narcotic drugs which has a huge grip in this region. The narcotics control bureaus are politically controlled and offer miniscule opposition to this industry.
Wednesday, 10 October 2012
Private crime detection skills rare in India --BIG Opportunity for foreign trained professionals and Training Agencies
Sycophantic print media tends to label people in the IPS as top crime solvers when none or very few of them do or have done any investigative work at all. Even SHOs of police stations do not do any detective work in India but mostly administrative work. Infact the detective training schools are run down and the cadre of detectives, forensic experts, dog handlers etc etc are persona non grata in the scheme of things in the interior ministry.
The top dogs are the IAS/IPS officials who are the home secretaries who control everything related to the police department. The next rung are those from the IPS/SPS (state police services) who man the DGP's office and the top police setup in the state. Then the next effective rung is at the district or large city level --whether one calls them the Commissionerate or the district police etc
The last rung is the Police station itself where the real work is supposed to happen but doesn't --this is always manned by the state police services and sometimes a probationary IPS youngster. But these people do not have any inclination or incentive to nurture a good detective cell themselves. All promotions are based on how one can cosy up to seniors and do their bidding caring two hoots for the populace they are supposed to be helping.
and on top of this gross inadequacy in the crime detection and solution system in indian policing our so called learned judges/magistracy tries to maintain status quo by either saying all is well on the law and order front or that even if police is inadequate in the area of crime detection and control, no private individual or body if acting as investigators in a civil or criminal case will be given any importance in a court of law.
I hope the Indian public wakes up to the actual state of affairs in our policing setup and the dire need for and importance of real detective work both via the police as well as private investigators in the country. Events in future will force the legislatures and the courts to recognise contributions made by private individuals and organisations in criminal and civil investigations and allow them to have a vocation in crime detection by standardising their certification and education/training.
We need specialised courses and interests for detectives and private investigators in our educational institutions.
The top dogs are the IAS/IPS officials who are the home secretaries who control everything related to the police department. The next rung are those from the IPS/SPS (state police services) who man the DGP's office and the top police setup in the state. Then the next effective rung is at the district or large city level --whether one calls them the Commissionerate or the district police etc
The last rung is the Police station itself where the real work is supposed to happen but doesn't --this is always manned by the state police services and sometimes a probationary IPS youngster. But these people do not have any inclination or incentive to nurture a good detective cell themselves. All promotions are based on how one can cosy up to seniors and do their bidding caring two hoots for the populace they are supposed to be helping.
and on top of this gross inadequacy in the crime detection and solution system in indian policing our so called learned judges/magistracy tries to maintain status quo by either saying all is well on the law and order front or that even if police is inadequate in the area of crime detection and control, no private individual or body if acting as investigators in a civil or criminal case will be given any importance in a court of law.
I hope the Indian public wakes up to the actual state of affairs in our policing setup and the dire need for and importance of real detective work both via the police as well as private investigators in the country. Events in future will force the legislatures and the courts to recognise contributions made by private individuals and organisations in criminal and civil investigations and allow them to have a vocation in crime detection by standardising their certification and education/training.
We need specialised courses and interests for detectives and private investigators in our educational institutions.
Tuesday, 9 October 2012
Police efficiency in oct 2012
Came across a report in the paper today about a chargesheet being filed for a case which happenned in July. It takes the staff of a particular police station (most probably sector 36 Police station) 3 months to file a chargesheet for a murder case in which the husband Varjinder killed his wife Pooja with the help of his girlfriend Renu. Don't know whether police procedures are bad/cumbersome
or
detective training is bad
or the staff is least concerned about producing any output and getting rapped by their seniors for shoddy and slow work
or they are plain overburdened
or they need better tools to do their work in terms of infrastructure, software, manpower etc
or their working conditions are bad
or there are no incentives/disincentives for good/bad work
or nobody among the public or civil society ngos related to governance care about the state of affairs.
After the chargesheet is filed, lets see what happens next and how fast the lower judiciary and the public prosecutors' office acts on the case after it reaches the court stage.
Chandigarh has a central detective school at sector 36 which technically comes under the BPRD. A careful look at the BPRD website seems to indicate that the BPRD itself has become non functional after Kiran Bedi left it. The other body under the MHA (union ministry of home affairs) which looks and improves/trains people about police systems and processes is the NCRB or national crime records bureau. Besides ofcourse the police training schools at the state level and the central level. I wonder if there is any police efficiency monitoring body (other than the NCRB or the generalised CAG --comptroller and auditor general) similar to the NACB -national accreditation board which is for rating diagnostic labs, hospitals, clinics, education institutes etc etc.
People who can share more on these points are
0 Retired police officers and government servants generally from the home and law ministries
1 The union home secretaries and their predecessors
2 The various occupants of the Advisor to the Administrator post, various occupants of the home secretary portfolios at Chandigarh administration, various DGs and ex DGs or Inspector Generals at Chandigarh,
3 The ceremonial occupants of the governors post and predecessors
4 The present DIG Alok Kumar and the SSP Naunihal Singh and his predecessors
5 the lower level staff of chandigarh police including retirees
6 The present top police official of chandigarh --Pradeep Srivastava and his predecessors
7 The union home and law ministers --specially their hangers on, staff, family and manipulators who create the most political interference in the working of the police
8 The local bar council association
9 The lower level judiciary including the magistracy
10 the public prosecutors who work with the police to file the case in courts
Infact all stakeholders which also includes litigants, insurance companies and others.
Think tanks, ngos, writers etc such as Kiran Bedi herself or the ex DG BSF Mr Prakash Singh who had filed the PIL for getting the National Police Commission recommendations implemented in letter and spirit by the Supreme Court
Mr Rajbir Deswal and other regular contributors to the Tribune and other papers who are ex IPS or ex state police services or have been associated with the police at some stage or the other in their lives.
NGOs such as CHRI and those involved with human rights, crime fighting etc, the initiative called the lok police or the nipsa.in
Also the media associated with police reforms and police working--Magazines on law and policing
It would be nice to hear inputs from other readers on this since bad or inefficient policing affects our daily lives and the police organisation is one of the most abused in this country as well as the most abusive to the general public. Chandigarh police is definitely better than other police deptts but it needs to be improved in as many areas as possible
or
detective training is bad
or the staff is least concerned about producing any output and getting rapped by their seniors for shoddy and slow work
or they are plain overburdened
or they need better tools to do their work in terms of infrastructure, software, manpower etc
or their working conditions are bad
or there are no incentives/disincentives for good/bad work
or nobody among the public or civil society ngos related to governance care about the state of affairs.
After the chargesheet is filed, lets see what happens next and how fast the lower judiciary and the public prosecutors' office acts on the case after it reaches the court stage.
Chandigarh has a central detective school at sector 36 which technically comes under the BPRD. A careful look at the BPRD website seems to indicate that the BPRD itself has become non functional after Kiran Bedi left it. The other body under the MHA (union ministry of home affairs) which looks and improves/trains people about police systems and processes is the NCRB or national crime records bureau. Besides ofcourse the police training schools at the state level and the central level. I wonder if there is any police efficiency monitoring body (other than the NCRB or the generalised CAG --comptroller and auditor general) similar to the NACB -national accreditation board which is for rating diagnostic labs, hospitals, clinics, education institutes etc etc.
People who can share more on these points are
0 Retired police officers and government servants generally from the home and law ministries
1 The union home secretaries and their predecessors
2 The various occupants of the Advisor to the Administrator post, various occupants of the home secretary portfolios at Chandigarh administration, various DGs and ex DGs or Inspector Generals at Chandigarh,
3 The ceremonial occupants of the governors post and predecessors
4 The present DIG Alok Kumar and the SSP Naunihal Singh and his predecessors
5 the lower level staff of chandigarh police including retirees
6 The present top police official of chandigarh --Pradeep Srivastava and his predecessors
7 The union home and law ministers --specially their hangers on, staff, family and manipulators who create the most political interference in the working of the police
8 The local bar council association
9 The lower level judiciary including the magistracy
10 the public prosecutors who work with the police to file the case in courts
Infact all stakeholders which also includes litigants, insurance companies and others.
Think tanks, ngos, writers etc such as Kiran Bedi herself or the ex DG BSF Mr Prakash Singh who had filed the PIL for getting the National Police Commission recommendations implemented in letter and spirit by the Supreme Court
Mr Rajbir Deswal and other regular contributors to the Tribune and other papers who are ex IPS or ex state police services or have been associated with the police at some stage or the other in their lives.
NGOs such as CHRI and those involved with human rights, crime fighting etc, the initiative called the lok police or the nipsa.in
Also the media associated with police reforms and police working--Magazines on law and policing
It would be nice to hear inputs from other readers on this since bad or inefficient policing affects our daily lives and the police organisation is one of the most abused in this country as well as the most abusive to the general public. Chandigarh police is definitely better than other police deptts but it needs to be improved in as many areas as possible
Urban farming, more cycle paths, less traffic
I came across some beautiful blog articles today one of which was connected to reimagining and reinventing Chandigarh or the tricity. Its at http://henrikvaleur.wordpress.com/2012/02/19/chandigarh-an-indian-adventure/ but he seems to have been denied information on the 2 to 4 other towns which are now its neighbours namely Mohali, Panchkula, Chandimandir and Zirakpur. This Danish architect who has influenced the town planning of Shanghai talked about
1 elevated roads outside the sectors,
2 a more commonsensical approach to the transport solutions for the city in the form of buses and trams instead of the metro
3 urban farming,
4 inclusion of the poor to proper housing
5 atleast four specific indoor plants/shrubs per person for cleaning the air
6 cycle lanes
7 common car parking at only 4 exit/entrance points per sector with solar electric rickshaws for moving within the sector
8 emphasis on walking and being more eco friendly
and so on and so forth
I came across another blog on our flora kanak7.wordpress.com/. Until next time then
1 elevated roads outside the sectors,
2 a more commonsensical approach to the transport solutions for the city in the form of buses and trams instead of the metro
3 urban farming,
4 inclusion of the poor to proper housing
5 atleast four specific indoor plants/shrubs per person for cleaning the air
6 cycle lanes
7 common car parking at only 4 exit/entrance points per sector with solar electric rickshaws for moving within the sector
8 emphasis on walking and being more eco friendly
and so on and so forth
I came across another blog on our flora kanak7.wordpress.com/. Until next time then
Sunday, 7 October 2012
Ayurveda in the tricity
Ayurvedic college Sector 46c
Not many know that Chandigarh has its own ayurvedic college too -www.dhanwantryayurvediccollege.com/ContactUs.aspx plus a school for yoga in sector 23 http://chdeducation.gov.in/yoga.asp. The print media also does not highlight this form of healthcare and the regulator or grievance redressal mechanism for this ayush system seems to be difficult to unearth. The patanjali yog chikitsalyas are manned by student graduates from this institute. There are a couple of dispensaries all over the city patronised by the administration but they have the govt culture of non excellence stamped all over them. There are also a couple of chemists selling ayurvedic drugs but only the knowledgeable seek out this form of medicine for their ailments.
Not many know that Chandigarh has its own ayurvedic college too -www.dhanwantryayurvediccollege.com/ContactUs.aspx plus a school for yoga in sector 23 http://chdeducation.gov.in/yoga.asp. The print media also does not highlight this form of healthcare and the regulator or grievance redressal mechanism for this ayush system seems to be difficult to unearth. The patanjali yog chikitsalyas are manned by student graduates from this institute. There are a couple of dispensaries all over the city patronised by the administration but they have the govt culture of non excellence stamped all over them. There are also a couple of chemists selling ayurvedic drugs but only the knowledgeable seek out this form of medicine for their ailments.
Burail Oct 7 2012
Seen quite a lot of policemen in Burail working as silent partners in the partially unauthorised hotel business which cannot mushroom without police protection.
Simultaneously a lot of government schools and community areas (janj ghars) are not easily accessible and maintained by their neighbourhood communities. Wondering when folks here will grow up to look after their own common areas instead of wailing for handouts. Shram daan used to be part of our culture but has taken a beating since the 70s with politicians and hanger ons promising the moon to the gullible and lazy electorate.
Complete lack of planning for surface water runoff and retention/seepage in the soil in built up areas of Burail with over concretisatisation and centralised execution and no community involvement. This leads to extreme temperatures during the summer (almost from feb end to aug end) and during winter (dec mid to feb mid) with subsequently higher energy bills for ACs and water pumping. Also no thought for greenery or trees in the vicinity of the overpaved areas.
Seen a makeshift and rickety volleyball court being used by enthusiastic residents in the Janj Ghar of Burail--wonder whether they have ever heard of the local Volleyball sports association chief and his whereabouts. Both the president and the secretary are from sector 41 --see http://chandigarh.gov.in/dept_sports8.htm
The local govt school playgrounds were jampacked on Sunday evening--more players than the grounds could hold. If only the creative energy were channelled better!
Simultaneously a lot of government schools and community areas (janj ghars) are not easily accessible and maintained by their neighbourhood communities. Wondering when folks here will grow up to look after their own common areas instead of wailing for handouts. Shram daan used to be part of our culture but has taken a beating since the 70s with politicians and hanger ons promising the moon to the gullible and lazy electorate.
Complete lack of planning for surface water runoff and retention/seepage in the soil in built up areas of Burail with over concretisatisation and centralised execution and no community involvement. This leads to extreme temperatures during the summer (almost from feb end to aug end) and during winter (dec mid to feb mid) with subsequently higher energy bills for ACs and water pumping. Also no thought for greenery or trees in the vicinity of the overpaved areas.
Seen a makeshift and rickety volleyball court being used by enthusiastic residents in the Janj Ghar of Burail--wonder whether they have ever heard of the local Volleyball sports association chief and his whereabouts. Both the president and the secretary are from sector 41 --see http://chandigarh.gov.in/dept_sports8.htm
The local govt school playgrounds were jampacked on Sunday evening--more players than the grounds could hold. If only the creative energy were channelled better!
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