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Tragedy of
errors Child
labour |
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Modi's
new pitch for NRIs
The
thick and thin of life
Using
social media for effective policing
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Child labour Barely
a few months ago, hundreds of children were found working as labourers in one of the farms in Punjab. Now, 281 children have been rescued from across the state during the observance of the Prevention of Child Labour Week. Of these, 116 were pursuing hazardous occupations. Not that the country lacks a legal safeguard to prevent children from exploitation. Their number continues to rise. U.N. agencies estimate the number of child labour in India could be as high as four to six crore. Article 23 of the Constitution states that any child below 18 who is not paid the minimum wages is pursuing forced
labour. Children are exploited for the very fact that their labour can be used without paying the stipulated wages. Employing children below 14 is a cognizable offence under the existing legislation. But lack of political will to rescue millions of children is evident from the fact that while 13,60,117 inspections had been carried out under the child labour law since 1986, barely 49,092 prosecutions were launched and merely 4,774 employers convicted. The law stipulates only one year's imprisonment and a maximum of Rs 20,000 penalty; in reality, a meagre sum of Rs 200 is imposed as penalty in most cases. The government has passed numerous laws like the Child and Adolescent Labour Prohibition Act, the Right to Education Act 2010, and introduced schemes like Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan to encourage the enrolment of children in schools. It also claims the number of child labourers has declined from 1.25 crore (Census 2001) to the current figure of 49.6 lakh (National Sample Survey). Not surprisingly, these figures were arrived at on the basis of a sample size of approximately 70,000 across the nation. The government needs to conduct a genuine survey to gauge the magnitude of the problem and make the enforcement machinery accountable. Unless employers are made accountable under stringent laws, child labour will continue to shame the nation.
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You know how advice is. You only want it if it agrees with what you wanted to do anyway. — John Steinbeck
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Lord Roberts' work in India The name of Lord Roberts was so well known among Indian troops that his death will be sincerely grieved by them. His chief work in India was to improve the relationship between officers and men. He told the British officers that they ought not to command them but lead them. They had to mix with the men and be tolerant to their caste customs. This change in the army was the effect of Lords Roberts' appreciation of the splendid qualifications of Indian fighters. Before this the officers seldom mixed with the men whose fighting qualities were not fully understood. In 1873 Lord Wolseley observed that the Indian troops were not and would never be fit to meet a European army in the field. To-day all Europe knows that the Indian soldier is superior to the German and thus we have the shrewd statement of General Sir Ian Hamilton that the Indian soldiers under proper leadership will be able to shake the foundations of artificial society of Europe. This opinion was given after seeing the work of Indian troops in China. The legal correspondent of the "New India" quotes a recent decision of the Madras High Court in which Mr. Justice Sadasiva Iyer stated that as "females" are permanently disqualified by their sex from performing the duties of certain offices in temples, they cannot hold or inherit the office, while at the same time delegating the duties to men. But if the question were raised independently he would from a consideration of ancient Shastras hold that Brahman ladies, who have become twice born by the proper sacrament are entitled to hold and perform religious office. In some temples of Southern India, it is usual for women to inherit offices in temples.
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Modi's new pitch for NRIs This was clear yet again during his Australian tour. There is a measure of stage management involved, but the formula has become standard after his American visit. You gather Indians in their various avatars in a metropolis, enthuse them about the properties of the self-made Prime Minister, give him a rock-star reception and you have the ingredients of the gracious guest announcing goodies such as visas on arrival and no police reporting even for those with other passports. And everybody goes home happily singing praises of Modi. In a sense, the Prime Minister is following a path trod by China for generations. Perhaps because the Chinese have distinctive racial and facial characteristics, they do not easily meld into local populations. But several shades of different Chinese governments have used their compatriots as instruments of their foreign policy. In independent India, on the other hand, the Nehruvian philosophy was to tell Indians who had left home shores to settle abroad to give their full allegiance to their new countries whose passports they had taken. At the same time, he advised expatriate Indians to retain their cultural links with their original homes. Mr Modi is now turning this approach on its head by following the Chinese model. There has always been great Indian pride in the achievements of Indians in the new homes they have adopted. Look at the columns of publicity in the print medium on an exceptional student or scientist who shines, an original Indian or his progeny making it to the political and administrative heights in his adopted home. Indians living abroad, however remote their connection, have for their part observed Indian religious and cultural traditions, sometimes to an anachronistic extent. This is particularly true of Gujaratis in view of their distinctive dietary habits and taboos. As is true of all countries, Indian missions abroad seek to promote their merits through cultural centres and trade promotion initiatives. The Indian dancing Siva, for instance, is a staple of all Indian embassies around the world. But no other Indian Prime Minister other than Mr Modi has mined the potential of the born Indian or his progeny as he is setting out to. On the contrary, the typical attitude of the ordinary Indian is that there is an element of guilt and disloyalty in anyone's decision to give up the homeland for pieces of silver and rosier prospects abroad. This is, of course, not true of the humble migrant worker who goes abroad to keep his family's head above water. Harnessing the potential of Indians living abroad for long is a tried method for Mr Modi. As Chief Minister of Gujarat, he tapped into the rich Non-Resident Indian's deep pockets to induce him to invest in his state by institutionalising the policy through annual jamborees lauding the role the NRI is playing. The underlying theme is that far from being looked down upon for his adventurous ventures around the world, he is welcome for having fought arduous battles to emerge on top. Perhaps the tinge of envy many Indians feel towards the successful NRI is sublimated by the latter's decision to share his fortune with his original home. One striking aspect of the NRI's success is the new trend in countries extending from the United States to Fiji in deciding to send persons of Indian origin to their original homes as their ambassadors. The jury is still out on how successful this experiment will be, but there can be no doubt of the success of these Indians who have reached the top in the diplomatic pecking order to merit the honour. As far as Mr Modi is concerned, the Indian living abroad in his or her various forms is an asset to be cultivated and honoured. He might have his cheer leaders to lionise him. Cheers of "Modi, Modi" at the big gatherings of NRIs in New York and Sydney are well rehearsed. His by now familiar theme of discourse of his own humble origin is meant to strike a chord with his audience who boast similar stories. And in announcing goodies, he makes the point that he is a leader who keeps his word. In other words, he is the leader his overseas audiences have been waiting for. Judging by the unrehearsed reactions in New York, Sydney and elsewhere, Mr Modi's theme song seems to be working. For some, he is the decisive Indian leader they have been waiting for. For others, the promise of greater prosperity and less rule-bound administration are welcome steps. And despite the dark clouds of 2002 in Gujarat hanging over him, the world from President Barack Obama to Prime Minister Tony Abbot has accepted his new credentials as the dynamic leader of India set to take the country forward more in keeping with its true potential. There are, of course, some dangers in lionising the Indian settled abroad. India does not offer double passports, unlike many other countries, despite Mr Modi's audiences' demands in New York, Sydney and elsewhere. But Nehru's constant advice to his countrymen settled abroad to offer full loyalty to their new home governments, despite their cultural and emotional attachment to India, has some merit. Essentially, it is a question of fine-tuning what Mr Modi expects from persons of Indian origin, apart from the obvious advantage of exploiting their wealth for the country's development. But the new mantra is there to stay. The NRI is not merely an honoured guest but one who has a special responsibility of helping the country in various ways in whatever job he is doing in his adopted home. If Mr Modi can combine his new evangelism without raising suspicions, he would have achieved a purpose.
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The thick and thin of life I was born into a middle class family with my parents being very pious and honest. They educated me and my siblings to the best of their ability and fed us well. So we turned up to become tall and tough Jat Sikh boys. In due course I followed my father and eldest brother to become a commissioned Army officer. Way back in 1965 I started on the princely salary of Rs 450 a month. That was more than what an IPS or IAS chap then got as a start. What followed over the next 15 years was a successful military career. I got top gradings on the various courses that I attended. I became an Army aviator and went on to attend the Staff College Course in Australia. I fought a war for the nation and won a gallantry award. So by the time I was due for promotion to Lt Col, the future looked very bright. I took over command of my parent regiment which is a dream of every Army officer. Over the next few years I did my best to command my regiment with elan and maintain a high level of probity and integrity. However I soon realised that things had not gone as expected and that my military career was at a dead end. So I decided to call it a day and put in my papers for superannuation. I started a new career in civil aviation to become a commercial helicopter pilot. I was quite thrilled by getting a pay check of Rs 18,500, which was much above the last salary that I drew as a colonel. Then followed a 17-year-stint of flying all over the country with top politicians, industrialists, film stars and foreign tourists. When we went out of station, we checked into 5-star hotels. It was interesting work but I missed my Army days and the simple but neat accommodation that we had. Finally this phase also came to an end when I reached the age of 65. So I was now truly and finally retired. Time now is spent on the golf course and sometimes with old Army friends in the club. I have now reached the stage to reflect on the ‘thick and thin' of life. So what are the lessons that I have learnt from my life? First, one should never count the chickens before they are hatched. Next, there is no point cribbing about the unfair hand dealt to you. Finally, have the courage to take the bold step to start a new life. But what about the 'thick and thin' of life? Well, I started with a monthly salary of Rs 450 and my last drawn monthly earning was Rs 4.12 Lakh. I guess that was the 'thin and thick' of my life!
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Using social media for effective policing
There
is a significant vibrant community on social media which offers new opportunities and challenges to the police. Today if the police have no voice on social media, they risk having information about their activities distorted, sensationalised or circulated irresponsibly by someone else shaping the way that information from the police is presented on social media. Social media gives the police an opportunity to have a two-way conversation and engagement with the community and transmit and update information very rapidly. It offers the police new and powerful ways to enlist the public’s assistance and ensures direct access to the section of community which hitherto has never been in contact with police. The scope and speed of social media make it an attractive way for police departments to reach out to the public. Global trend A 2013 social media survey of the International Association of Chiefs of Police conducted in USA found that 96 per cent of police departments use social media in some capacity, and more than 80 per cent say it has helped them solve crimes. Three-quarters of those on social media have joined since 2010. The most frequently used social media platforms are Facebook (92.1 per cent), Twitter (64.8 per cent), and YouTube (42.9 per cent). Nixle, Flickr, Linkedln, MySpace, Apps, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, Foursquare, Vimeo, Blog, SMS Notification and Nextdoor. 80.4 per cent of agencies report that social media has helped solve crimes in their jurisdiction. 73.1per cent of agencies state that social media has improved police-community relations. Today, many police forces around the world are using social media for purposes of criminal investigations, listening/monitoring, intelligence, soliciting tips on crime, notifying the public of crime problems, providing emergency or disaster- related information, crime-prevention activities, community outreach/citizen engagement, public relations or reputation management, in-service training and virtual policing. Varied usage and benefits The Oakland Police Department now uses Facebook and Nextdoor, in addition to Nixle and Twitter, and considers social media an important tool in keeping the general public in the loop. The Boise Police Department has been using social media since 2009, all officers in Boise have undergone social media training and new officers are required to do the same. Sacramento Police in USA, even uses YouTube and Instagram to show the public behind the scenes officer training, and recently posted a Day in the Life series on Instagram. Beyond individual cases, crowd sourcing has become the central tool to identify suspects in the aftermaths of the 2011 riots in the United Kingdom. The Metropolitan Police (MET) and the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) of UK, used Twitter extensively to support investigations and to seek information on offenders. Both forces also used the photo-sharing site Flickr to publish photos of perpetrators captured on CCTV. The general public was asked to help in the identification of these people. At an English Defence League protest in Birmingham, UK, the police used Twitter to talk to protesters and point them to the department’s Website and YouTube sites. Those sites featured officers telling the protesters the tactics the police would be using and also informing the protesters where they could peacefully protest. For many forces in the United Kingdom or the Netherlands, publishing search warrants on social media for daily operations has become a standard activity and is a common part of an overall social media or communication strategy. Virtual warnings A community police officer of the North Yorkshire Police, UK, as an early adopter on Twitter, is tweeting when he is out on patrol and what he is investigating, publishes crime appeals, gives crime-prevention advice, publishes good news stories of police work and engages in conversations with the public. Helsinki police, Finland does virtual community policing on the networks Facebook, IRC-Galleria, Messenger, Hommaforum and Demi. The virtual police station in 2011, for Helsinki alone, has recorded 246 acts of which were about 51 sexual crimes, another were 50 “virtual warnings”, usually related to bullying each other. Nextdoor application on social media connects the residents of particular neighbourhoods, allowing police officers to engage more personally with citizens in their jurisdiction. For example, an officer could alert a specific neighbourhood of a robbery or break in without alarming nearby neighbourhoods. Nextdoor is seen as the 21st century evolution of neighbourhood watch, giving police officers the most positive engagement directly with the neighbourhoods they serve. Better emergency response On April 15, 2013 in Massachusetts, USA, two devices detonated in quick succession near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, causing three deaths and approximately 280 injuries. Boston Police Department (BPD) successfully used Twitter to keep the public informed about the status of the investigation, to calm nerves and request assistance, to correct mistaken information reported by the press, and to ask for public restraint in the tweeting of information from police scanners from the blasts (correcting inflated fatality reports by some media sources) and that no suspect was in custody (in response to media speculation that a Saudi Arabian man had been arrested). All of the BPD tweets about the bombings on April 15 were sent on the department’s official Twitter account, which was directly overseen by BPD’s Public Information Bureau chief. By the time the second suspect was captured on the evening of April 19, BPD’s Twitter account had more than 300,000 followers, up from about 40,000 prior to the week’s events. The official tweet reporting the suspect’s capture was retweeted more than 140,000 times. In the aftermath of the investigation, BPD was “applauded for leading an honest conversation with the public during a time of crisis in a way that no police department has done before.” In cases of large-scale crises or in cases of investigations that receive special attention by the public, police systems for communication with the public come under stress. One successful way of dealing with the high demand has been the use of various social media sites that can better balance high loads in their global infrastructures. During the 2011 riots in London, the Metropolitan police (MET), for instance, used Flickr to publish images of suspects. With announcements on Twitter, the photos were extremely popular. The MET’s website traffic increased dramatically during and just after the riots. Hosting images on a separate server through Flickr helped ensure their site was not overloaded and could run at optimal levels, thus ensuring the public could still gain policing information and advice. After almost every major incident since the 2001 terrorist attacks, emergency responders have cited communications and information-sharing failures. Social media tools allow emergency managers to disseminate information to wider audiences, interact with the public, monitor social media networks to get a better sense of what’s happening on the ground during a crisis, get better situational awareness and improve collaboration for sharing information during an emergency. It provides a flatter, less hierarchical approach for information-sharing suited for crisis situation. Strategy for social media For the police department it is important to have a strategy to plan, implement, and manage the social media programme. Plan which tools (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, blogs, and so on) to use and how to use them considering the attributes, advantages, and disadvantages, of each tool. Work out the manpower need, some dedicated team needs to be assigned solely for this purpose, while others can be trained to create media content and feed the social media centre. Ideally, at an advanced stage other gazetted officers at all levels should be able to post content concerning their area. It is essential to plan how to use the tools to enhance the department’s message and how the tools will relate to each other. Also, a timeline for rolling out the new media and a plan for training all gazetted officers should be developed. Providing content As the site or tool is essentially about the content, the department should engage in social media only when it can regularly provide content. Until then, it is best to wait. Since the social media allows two ways communicate with the public. Some people will also say negative things about the police department, unsolicited and abusive feedback will occur. However, all that negative activity would happen whether the department is using the social media or not. By using social media, departments can at least see what people are saying — and have the opportunity to rebut criticisms and engage the community. If the department creates a social media presence and then walks away from it, the department loses credibility—making future attempts to create such a presence difficult. Setting up a Facebook page requires a face or faces on the page. Post an identified officer within the department with profile information, and make the page human. The content shared is only good and the public is engaged when a real person is standing behind it. Due to the legal risks and management concerns associated with participating in social media, a social media policy is essential. Sites such as Facebook and Twitter have their own terms of use and when users sign up, even police departments must agree to abide by those rules. Train the staff on how to use the tools effectively and encourage them to do so. Creating a presence in these areas is just the beginning. It takes time, sincere efforts, perseverance and commitment to build a following and reap benefits. For a (social) media-savvy force
Social media users in India As per the latest statistics available, there are 243 million internet users in India and the total users may increase to 500 million by 2018. Facebook is the most- browsed social network on social media, with a large base of 100 million users, total Twitter users in India are 33 million, LinkedIn has 26 million India users and Pinterest has 5.5 million users from India. The writer is ADG in Punjab Police and author of the book Reinvention Strategies in a Marketing framework
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