Narendra Kumar, IPS and what his sacrifice means for all of us

Narendra Kumar, IPS and what his sacrifice means for all of us!

The news of the killing of Narendra Kumar, IPS in Morena, Madhya Pradesh has shocked all of us. One cannot imagine that in the heart of India, criminals will have the audacity of running over a tractor over a senior police official. In such cases, one would normally assume that the driver of the tractor doing illegal mining, will run away and later the real benefactors will pursue with the police and administration to get the tractor released. The very act of this not happening and the brutal killing of the IPS officer points to a larger conspiracy. Mining has been a major area of corruption across the country. The stakes are high and we all know the powers that the illegal mining mafia wields in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh or Uttar Pradesh.

The reach and influence of the mafia can be gauged by just looking at the kind of people who are given the portfolio of mining across the States of the country. Normally, the most corrupt of the people, who are directly associated with the finances of the ruling party, handle this portfolio in the Council of Ministers. It is also common knowledge that even officials, both civil and police, lobby to get postings in districts rich in mining. In Uttar Pradesh, it was rumoured that postings in Sonbhadra district are actually auctioned. It points to a large scale nexus between politicians, bureaucrats and the mining mafia. This is an endemic problem and if it has to be resolved, it would require a firm resolve right from the top political leaders of a State. It is not up to a SDPO or a SDM to solve the problem. The issue at hand is no less than that of the liquor mafia or the coal mafia. We all know the influence exercised by liquor barons in Governments.

So what does this mean? Does it imply that field level officials can do nothing about such transgressions? What should a young SDM or SDPO do when faced with such challenges? We have been discussing this informally with colleagues in the IAS and I am thrilled at the resolve being shown by some of the younger officers. Infact, in the aftermath of the Morena incident, one suggestion came which called upon all field officers across the country to launch a concerted drive against all illegal mining, to seize vehicles and don’t release them for a long time. This would have a nationwide impact on the activities of the mafia and hurt them financially as the cost of hiring mining equipment is fairly high. There are colleagues who have pointed out High Court rulings which have upheld orders issued for penalizing Rs One Lakh per truck for illegal mining as also for penalties of Rs 48000 per truck for overloading. These orders were passed under Land Revenue Act and Section 133 CrPC.
Thus there seem to be sufficient legal legroom available to deal with such matters. We must use all legal avenues available to us to deal with this problem. Very often what bothers many of us is why political pressure is put to release vehicles that were seized for illegal mining or why there is a lot of interest of MLAs and Ministers in putting pressure on going easy on the mining mafia. The answers are simple. These guys are stakeholders – either direct or indirect. We must not forget that MLAs, MPs and Ministers are politicians and they are dependent on votes for their jobs. To win elections, they need a lot of people to work for them. After they win the elections, there is not much that they can do for their supporters. Even winning elections does not guarantee that his party will form the Government and even if the MLA is part of the ruling party, it is not guaranteed if he will get a ministerial berth. Even if he is lucky, it is not guaranteed that he will have a plum portfolio or a Secretary who will allow him to make money. Today, the investments required to contest elections is huge and given the low probability of recovering the investment it becomes a high stakes game for these guys. None of these guys are there for the love of the land – like Gandhi, Nehru or Bose in the pre 1947 era. Those freedom fighters quit lucrative professions for the risk of fight against the British. They had the lofty goal of Freedom to look up to. Today, I and You will not join politics nor will we let anyone close in our families to do so. Today only guys who have no other options left join politics. Or those leaders, popularly known as Youth Brigade or Baba Log, who are sons and daughters of politicians of yesterday who have a constituency to inherit.

With regard to ways to handle request of politicians, a senior politician in Uttar Pradesh told me an interesting story, a few years back. When I could not do some work for one of his supporters as the same was not possible as per rules, he told me that had the same been possible as per Rules, the person would not have gone to him. As per him, most of his supporters come to him for work that does not get done in the normal course of law and he cannot avoid making requests on behalf of his supporters. He felt it is upto officers to handle such matters. Infact in a way they do their job in following up on demands from their supporters. We must do our job in refusing to agree to requests or demands that are illegal. Unfortunately many of us agree to do things that are illegal as we want to please them in the desire of better career options or plum postings and at times for illegal considerations. No wonder, someone said some time back that when we are asked to bend, we crawl. That's where the problems start.

In order to how do we deal with such politicians, I would also recommend watching the Yes Minister Series again as it has some valuable lessons on how to deal with politicians! Also, one should know where to draw the line. We should never compromise on our principles. Normally the worst that would happen is a transfer! Incidents like the one in MP are sad and tragic. We have to be aware of the risks involved, be careful and keep our team and seniors informed when dealing with hard core criminals. Never try to take things individually. The might of the State must be used to deal with such elements. I can say that having dealt worse situations in Nagaland where even the armed forces also think before dealing directly with AK 47 wielding militants. Life is too big to sacrifice. You have lots to do. Ultimately, our jobs are important but not more than life and love of our near and dear ones. Use tact and law to deal with such situations. Bottom line is that don't ever think of doing something that can cost your life. It is not worth it. The Nation will forget you soon. How many of us remember Dr L V Reddy, IAS(85) who was killed as DC Kohima or Ved Prakash IPS (89) who was killed as SP Mokokchung or Dashrath IAS(94) who lost his life in Manipur or my batchmate and dear friend Ajay Singh who was killed as SP Lohardaga in Jharkhand. In almost all these cases, the guilty have neither been caught nor punished. The media and society will also forget you soon. Only people who grieve them every day and every year is their families. Moral of the Story - Please do take care in whatever you do.

Abhishek Singh
abhish18@hotmail.com

PS: Views expressed above are my personal.