The Hindu : New Delhi News : Wheelers and dealers….

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Saturday, Jan 12, 2008
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New Delhi

New Delhi

Wheelers and dealers….

Public opinion by and large is that traffic policemen are neck-deep in demanding and receiving bribes. Devesh K. Pandey finds out more….

The irresistible lure of lucre makes it almost impossible to weed out corruption in government agencies dealing with the public. Or so it seems judging by the case of the Delhi traffic police who are once again battling fresh allegations of corruption, with a civilian armed with a hidden camera capturing on film nearly a hundred traffic police men allegedly receiving bribes from Blueline bus operators at various intersections across the Capital.

To begin with, this is the umpteenth time that allegations of corruption have been levelled against the department and the public opinion by and large is that a considerable number of traffic policemen are neck-deep in demanding and receiving bribes. Though all sorts of measures are announced from time to time to check the menace, the amount of money involved is huge and this apparently keeps the wheels of corruption running.

In the past, the Capital’s traffic policemen have been accused of “earning their incentives” by extorting money from auto-rickshaw drivers and private bus operators. They have also been accused of being hand in glove with parking lot attendants, especially at market places where there is an acute scarcity of parking space. Another allegation against them is that several traffic policemen connive with private bus operators through conduits and get the bribe amount collected. Then this money finds its way up the hierarchy.

Interestingly, it has been the talk of the town for quite some time now that identical key rings or stickers are being circulated among bus operators for easy identification of those who had already paid a “cut”. Likewise, truck drivers are known to maintain “entry-books”, which serve as receipt records, to keep track of the money paid in bribes to the police personnel.

With the challan amounts having shot up last year, the amount earned by the traffic police through prosecution also went up to a record Rs. 98 crore. But many people feel this has opened another door for corrupt personnel to make a fast buck.

Some of the recent allegations levelled in court against traffic policemen are very serious. And if there is any truth in the allegations, those who took bribes from the Blueline bus operators and allowed them to ply on the roads were in a way responsible for the deaths by the killer vehicles. The TV sting operation footage also shows that corruption in the department is pretty much visible on the roads, and this certainly tarnishes the image of the force.

According to law and order experts, it is high time the police authorities did some introspection to check corruption within their ranks. Given the magnitude of the problem, transfers or censure notes alone would not do; a greater will and sincerity are required to stem the rot.

The authorities could set out by fixing the tenure of posting in the department to minimise the chance of any personnel indulging in corruption. Senior police officers could be involved in conducting surprise checks to keep a close watch on the ground staff. To ensure that public confidence in the police is enhanced, the authorities will have to conduct a thorough and result-oriented investigation into the latest allegations and bring the guilty to book.

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