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Rane regrets lack of police commissionerate

Special Correspondent

"The Commissionerate system could not take shape due to differences between IAS, IPS officers"

Pratapsinh Rane

PANAJI: Chief Minister Pratapsinh Rane on Wednesday said that the Goa Police Bill had been scuttled due to a clash of interests between the IAS and IPS officers. It failed to get the President's assent.

Responding to the points raised in the Assembly on the demand for grants to the Home Department, Mr. Rane said that the Goa Police Bill, which was passed by the Assembly in 1994, during his earlier tenure as the Chief Minister, could not usher in a Commissionerate system due to differences between officers of the two services. The system was sought to be introduced in the interest of the public.

Mr. Rane said, "It was a model Act, it could have taken care of many things." The Commissionerate system was working well in Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata.

The Bill was modelled on the Police Act of Singapore after a delegation from the then ruling and Opposition parties had toured Singapore. This had invited flak for the then Rane Government. Some provisions in the Bill such as creating a private police force were opposed by trade unions which petitioned the then Union Home Minister, late Indrajit Gupta, not to allow the Act to go ahead.

On modernisation of the police force, Mr. Rane agreed with the members' demand that proper training should be given to the police personnel. Better laws were needed to tackle cyber crimes.

Parents should not allow their school going children to use cell phones. The Government was against rave parties due to the abuse of drugs.

Mr. Rane agreed that youth arrested for drugs and other crimes and HIV positive persons should not be put in cells occupied by hardened criminals. He also said that a committee had been set up for formulating a prison manual.

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Rane regrets lack of police commissionerate

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