Security Problem
Result of low police to citizen ratio. Separate security force for each sector is not the solution
Demand for setting up Industrial Security Force has been cropping up very often. The government has been toying with the idea for the last decade or so.
However, in deeper analysis, it can be concluded that the whole idea of separate security force for each particular sector is preposterous. There already exists a separate special security force for tourism sector but that has not been able to stop crimes against the tourists and that force is complaining of lack of resources.
Now incidents of bank robbery have become very frequent. Therefore, special arrangements are being demanded for bank security as well. Added to it is the demand from the bullion traders for special arrangement for the security of their shops as they too have suffered repeated robbery.
But similar is the case with schools. And equally serious is the security threat in the media as the number of journalists killed by identified and unidentified criminals has been ever on the rise. Attacks on the offices of the media organizations are equally rampant.
If there are separate security forces for each sector of the society, the message it portrays is of complete lawlessness and a time will come soon when each household (even each individual) will need separate special security. Also the logic that a large industrial establishment deserves a special security force because it pays huge tax, is difficult to accept. There are some individual tax payers who pay even larger sums to the state coffers than some medium or small size industries pay. The industries enjoy a number of concessions, hence their tax pay out may be lower than that of some individuals.
Therefore, the need is not for setting up a special security force on the as-and-when-required basis, but for complete restructuring and reorganization of the security infrastructure. Such restructuring and reorganization of the security infrastructure requires a number of things. One, there is a need to change a number of laws so that the local government bodies formed by people’s representatives have more powers in their hands, including in security matters. Second, the resources available in the hands of the existing security force should be increased. Third, the size of the security force needs to be expanded by inducting more professionals in the force who will be skilled in dealing with diverse types of crimes in more professional way than is the current practice.
Going by the number of Police Personnel in different countries, Nepal is clearly underpoliced. Though the exact ratio of police to citizen is not available for Nepal, the data from elsewhere may serve as a guide. This ratio is about 1:699 in India while in American cities of New York, Chicago and Philadelphia it is about 1:220 and in German city Berlin it is 1:224.
(by Arthaprakash Bidyarthi)
