The perceived failure of our police machinery to deal with various cases of law and order satisfactorily has often led to demands for CBI inquiry in those cases. Frequent calls to CBI for causing inquiries in matters as may strictly relate to matters in the state domain point to the lack of popular confidence in our police. This has not only dented the morale of the provincial police, but has also resulted in the central agency being overly burdened to do justice to its original briefs.

The blame game between the Centre and many state governments as seen recently in the wake of critical law and order failures or terrorist bomb blasts is also supposed to be laid to rest by institution of such an agency. After the recent serial bomb blasts in Uttar Pradesh, the Centre shirked the responsibility saying that law and order is a state subject and the state government needs to be more vigilant in such matters. The state government, however, blamed the centre for having not provided it with adequate intelligence inputs to this effect.

It is in this light that there has been mooted a proposal for a Federal Police Agency (FPA) to deal with such issues in state domain which go beyond the normal law and order or which require more specialized attention and investigation. The same shall also have positive pay-offs for our internal security. The performance of this agency is proposed to be monitored by a high powered collegiums comprising the Chief Minister, Speaker of the Assembly, Chief Justice of the High Court and

The idea of a Federal Police Agency has been on board for a long time and now the Central Government is also seems to be actively toying with such an idea. But there is more to it. When we go about setting up such an agency, we should see to it that the jurisdictions of the state police and that of agencies like CBI and FPA remain clearly demarcated to avoid any duplication or overlapping of functions and duties, as far as possible. It needs to be ensured that inquiries and investigations as entrusted to these agencies become more automatic and systematic than are reactive entrustments to pre-empt any negative reflection on performance of the local police.

It has been noticed in recent past that the state governments or high courts have entrusted enquiries in high profile cases to the central agency only after there has been a popular outcry
should also ensure that even while create such a central agency, we should not ignore and forget that there is no substitute to an efficient and effective police force as that still remains the most primary level where the State-citizens interface usually takes place. Hence, the provincial police needs to be spruced up further rather than marginalizing it by whittling down its authority or overshadowing it by creation of parallel authorities.

So, even while we go about creating FPA, it should be ensured that police functions remain unencumbered by interference from any quarters including insidious influence by the politicians and political parties. The police force not only needs to be made more professional, but it also needs be better trained and belter motivated to deal with various demands and challenges of policing.