Bhilai, Dec 18: A memorial lecture was organised in memory of Retired Addl DG Police Late Vijay Shankar Choubey at the auditorium of BIT Durg. The topic for the lecture series was “The Role of Administration and Police in development of District – Yesterday Today & tomorrow”.
Senior & experienced Judges, Bureaucrats and Police officials of national level participated and expressed their opinion on the occasion. OP Rawat, ex chief election commissioner of India was the Main speaker for the Memorial lecture. Justice TP Sharma, Pramukh Lokayukt Chhattisgarh and Rajiv Mathur, Ex Director Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel National Police Academy, Hyderabad & Ex DG NCRB, Govt of India were the Eminent Speakers present on the occasion. Sharad Chandra Behar Ex Chief Secretary of undivided Madhya Pradesh presided over.
In the welcome address, Narendra Shukla, IAS, MD State Warehousing Corporation, Chhattisgarh highlighted the importance of topic. He said that District Administration and Police are the two important pillars for running the administration of District. These two agencies are entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining law & order and fulfilling the objectives of Governance and development. Shukla highlighted the major development milestones achieved during the tenure of then Superintendent of Police Late Vijay Shankar Choubey and Collectors of those days. He said the administration of Durg district during that period is still remembered by the people for the excellent Coordination between Collector, SP and MD of Bhilai Steel Plant.
Eminent Speaker Rajiv Mathur, Ex Director Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel National Police Academy, Hyderabad in his address said that police is the most important element of Governance. Without its presence the existence of Government cannot be thought off. He explained the problems and challenges before Indian police and said that they have to gear up for the future. Mathur said that Police is in the forefront on all occasions and deals with such problems which may not be in their purview also. Be it Labour unrest, Student Unrest, Communal Violence, removing unauthorized construction, anger against various Government Institutions etc. they have to bear the anger of Public and take the discredit. He said that we are still continuing with the age old system of policing laid down by the British and could not make major changes till today. He gave the example of developed countries where Police is treated as a friend and helper and common man can approach them for any type of help even if it is not linked with police. He advised that Police should work with citizens and appreciated the efforts in social welfare activities done by CG police in the naxal infested area. He advocated more autonomy to police and stressed for better training and gadgets for dealing with new challenges like cyber criminals, International terrorism.
Eminent Speaker Justice TP Sharma, Pramukh Lokayukt Chhattisgarh started his address by commending Late Vijay Shankar Choubey as a very simple person and an easily accessible police officer who was always ready to help the needy. By his actions he achieved equal respect from Judiciary, Administration and all walks of people in the society and Government. Sharma advised young Administration and Police Officials to work in tandem with the Judiciary and Legal fraternity. Here he again eulogized the example of Choubey who had excellent rapport with Judicial Officers. Continuing further Justice Sharma said that though Judiciary doesn’t have a direct role in the district administration but indirectly they are in the role of a guide and cautioned them from committing mistakes. He also exhorted all Revenue officers be it Commissioner, Collector/DM, SDM, Tehsildars who have their own court on revenue and law & order matters to function independently when they are working as a Court. They should not dilute their authority as a court and not get pressurized. Justice Sharma said that generally the Government takes the opinion of Law department in critical legal issues but this is not appropriate since the Law secretary is part of Government. Instead, Advocate General should be consulted on all such issues, who may give an independent opinion. He also exhorted all Revenue officers be it Commissioner, Collector/DM, SDM, Tehsildars who have their court on revenue and law & order matters to function independently when they are working as a Court. They should not dilute their authority as a court and not get pressurized. He advised Administration and Police only to follow the legally correct orders of Political Executive.
The Chief Speaker Om Prakash Rawat, ex chief election commissioner of India started his address with the importance of Coordination between District Administration and Police in solving the difficult issues with ease. He gave example of one incident during his tenure as Collector Indore when VS Choubey was posted as SP Indore. The incident related to a particular community occurred in Indore for which there was high level pressure due to religious tension but the Collector and SP stood together firmly to protect the rights of an adult Women as per the provisions of constitution. This and many other law & order incidents were handled tactfully due to excellent Coordination between District Administration and Police. The Ex chief Election commissioner also gave the example of the recent Vidhansabha Elections conducted peacefully in the naxal hot bed of Chhattisgarh. This he said could be possible only due to the excellent work done in tandem by the District Administration and the Police. Further, he said that the peaceful conduct of Elections in Chhattisgarh naxal area got noticed not only in national but international news papers like Washington post. He praised the present Indian Election System and Machinery for their impartiality and informed that in a conference the Election authorities from the developed countries like USA have expressed their desire to learn from Indian Election process. This is a matter of pride for all of us. Going further he talked about the rights of Tribals and under privileged section of Society. He expressed his unhappiness over the fact that constitution makers have empowered the Governors to save the Tribals from exploitation and certain unsuitable laws, but unfortunately this power has not been exercised till date. Rawat narrated an incident in MP where the empowerment of Gram Sabha and Forest Rights act has helped the poor tribals to raise their voice against the wrong action of forest officials and get due Justice. He said that by empowering Gram sabhas and effective implementation of Forest Rights act the naxal menace can be reduced to a great extent. He advised Administration and Police Officials to work impartially and make efforts to protect the rights of the person standing in the lowest line of democracy.
Sharad Chandra Behar, Ex Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh started his address with Mahatma Gandhiji’s word that people in power should be trustees of the Posts given to them rather than becoming owner of those posts. He said that chair/post should not rule the powerful but they must rule the chair/posts. This, he said is the main problem of today’s Political and administrative system that people are getting more involved with the chair rather than using it for the benefit of Common people. Behar said that democracy is for the people and only by strengthening the common people and decentralization of power, we can solve the problems of country. He said that model of development formed by the people in power and big corporate is giving the benefits of development to only 5% of the population in the country.
The programme was attended by dignitaries from all walks of life that included Ex Chief Secretary Suyogya Mishra, District and Sessions Judge Govind Mishra, Divisional Commissioner Durg Dilip Wasnikar, Secretary Lokaayog Brajesh Chandra Mishra, Ex ADG Police BBS Thakur, Anand Tiwari, Ex Information Commissioner, SK Tiwari, Ex IG PN Tiwari, SSP Durg Dr Sanjeev Shukla, CEO Jila Panchayat Gaurav Singh, Senior Journalist Ramesh Nayyar, Ex CMD of Hindustan Copper KD Diwan, GM SAIL Himadree Mukherjee, Ex Director Health Dr RS Siddhiqui, Ex Mayor Shankarlal Tamrakar, GM CET, Himadree Mukherjee, GM SAIL SP Singh, Professor HN Dubey, Pardeshi Ram Verma, Dr BP Mukherjee, Professor Suresh Sharma, EX Addl SP RP Sharma, EX SDM SP Dixit, CSP SS Sharma & Sharad Kokas. The programme was conducted by Professor DN Sharma.