In yet another move to bring about what railway minister Suresh Prabhu called "seamless" policing, the railway ministry will be inviting the police force of various states, along with Railway Protection Force officers, for a seminar on January 15. Prabhu, speaking to media persons in Mumbai on Friday, said union home minister Rajnath Singh has also been invited for the seminar.
"The seminar will be to think of ideas to take forward the concept of seamless policing so that passengers are not inconvenienced when a crime takes place on a running train," said Prabhu, adding that he has also written to chief ministers of various states for their views on the subject.
Prabhu, however, cautioned that it is a complex issue and may take time. "There are various constitutional provisions governing policing, and law and order is a state subject. These matters will have to be sorted out," he said.
In the short term, Prabhu said there were plans to install CCTVs in the passages of long-distance train coaches. "There was the issue of privacy of passengers, but with CCTV cameras placed in the passage, the issue, I believe, is solved," he added and emphasised the need to sensitise RPF personnel to better and more friendly behaviour while dealing with passengers.
Prabhu was in the city to inaugurate the RPF Passenger Security Seminar hosted by Western Railway. The seminar, which will go on for a few days, will see presentations by top RPF officers under five sub-heads of railway policing and passenger security.
The talk of federal railway police continues to be among the most thorny issues. A move to give policing powers of the state railway police to the RPF and make the latter the sole policing authority on the railways was shot down by states who believed the Centre was infringing on the subject of law and order.
Currently, the railway system is such that all matters (crimes) related to the Indian Penal Code are dealt by the railway police of the state in which the crime has taken place during the journey, while a host of subjects, mainly dealing with railway property and premises, are looked into by the RPF under the Railway Act and RPF Act.
Mistrusting brothers-in-khaki
The RPF and railway police have always had an uneasy relationship, especially given the fact that powers of both the bodies overlap. In Mumbai, there have been instances of the railway police filing cases against RPF officers.
The other issue is that the RPF, being a unit of the railway ministry itself, tends to get better infrastructure at stations, while the railway policemen believe they are given stepmotherly treatment.
The result is that the railway police officers are absent from all meetings called by the general manager on issues of the railways, including passenger safety. The commissioner of railway police, an IPS officer, reports to the state director general of police and never attends these meetings.
On the other hand, the RPF, reporting to the railway bureaucracy, has often been accused of forgetting that it is an armed force of the Union but behaves like compliant guards of the bureaucracy. The fact that the divisional railway manager writes the annual confidential reports of the senior commandant of the RPF (also called the senior divisional security commissioner) curtails the independence of the RPF as a law-enforcing agency, agree several RPF officers dna spoke to.
"Making the RPF the sole federal railway security agency will free us from the clutches of the railway bureaucracy and give teeth to safety and law enforcement in railways," said a senior RPF officer.
Highlights
The main issues discussed in the RPF passenger seminar Prabhu inaugurated were...
Challenges faced by RPF in passenger security management
Customer satisfaction about security
Redefining concept of power and policing methods of RPF
Community policing and how to get non-passenger stakeholders like coolies, station personnel involved in policing
Challenges of suburban passenger security
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}