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The
failure of institutional integrity
Missing children: A national tracking system imperative |
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Toothless bodies won’t do
On Record
Profile
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Missing children: A national tracking system imperative REPORTS that 60,000 children below 18 years were found missing in 2009 as compared to 44,000 in 2004 should be a matter of serious public concern. Earlier, a research study sponsored by the National Human Rights Commission and conducted by the Institute of Social Sciences, 2005, revealed that in any given year an average of 44,000 children are reported missing and of them 11,000 remain untraced. This, however, is just a tentative and unrealistic estimate because data collected from police records are inadequate and incorrect. Many cases are not reported, or if reported, not registered by the police. Missing children end up in a variety of pathetic situations — killed and buried in neighbours' backyards (as in Nithari serial killings), work as forced labour in illegal factories/ homes, exploited as sex slaves or forced as child beggar in begging rackets. The NHRC's Action Research on Trafficking has shown through several case studies the linkage between trafficking and persons reported missing. Many of these missing children are trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation, or forced labour and other forms of abuse. Unfortunately, the police seldom properly investigate cases of missing children. Normally, investigation of a crime commences with the registration of an FIR (First Information Report) in the police station. Registration of an FIR, presupposes a cognisable offence. But in the case of a missing person or child, no formal FIR is registered in the police station; only a missing person entry is made in the police station diary. The Station House Officer forwards the information to the Superintendent of Police or Deputy Superintendent of Police who, in turn, forwards it to the Chief of the police. Local police officials publicise the particulars of the missing person in the media by circulating available identification details and photographs. After this, no further serious efforts are made to locate the missing children. There are no sustained follow up efforts to locate the missing children. At police headquarters, information regarding a missing person is lodged with the Missing Person Bureau, a wing of the State CID (Criminal Investogation Department). They, in turn, forward the message to the State Crimes Bureau and to the Missing Person Wing of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in New Delhi, which operates under the control of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The NCRB acts as a documentation centre. It does neither investigation nor does it monitor or facilitate recovery of missing children. Police stations also do not give feedback to the NCRB whether the missing child is traced or returned. Consequently, despite being the missing national repository of crime data, the NCRB remains unaware of children who are traced and those who remain untraced. Further, there is no analysis of the problem of missing children in the Annual Crime in India Report published by the NCRB. I still recall with some measure of satisfaction that when I was posted as the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Rourkela, Orissa, I could help an anxious father, who was an engineer in the Rourkela Steel Plant, to trace out his only son because I could detail an officer exclusively for investigation of this case .The child could be traced by the investigating officer in a Mumbai dhaba after a week. However, this is not possible in every case because of constraints of manpower. The Supreme Court, in the Writ Petition No 610/1996, Horilal, Commissioner of Police, Delhi, issued a number of useful guidelines with regard to steps to be taken for tracing out missing and kidnapped minor girls and children. These guidelines include publishing the photographs of missing persons/children in the newspapers, enquiries about missing children in educational institutions issuing hue and cry notices and setting up a multi-task force under the State CID for locating missing girls and women. In the US, private non-profit organisations like the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) provide free services to the families of kidnapped and sexually exploited children. It also serves as a clearing house for information about missing and exploited children. In India, there are NGOs like the Children India Foundation (CIF) and the National Centre for Missing Children (NCMC) which have hosted websites displaying photos of missing children for whom the police are conducting enquiries. Unfortunately, there is no systematic coordination and cooperation between the police and NGOs dedicated to this endeavour in India. Indeed, efforts to trace out missing children remain ad hoc and slipshod. There is an urgent need for a National Data Base and Monitoring Centre. For this, the NCRB should establish a National Tracking System that could encompass locating and tracking missing children at the grassroots. The database has to be updated on a regular and systematic basis and the information, which is gathered, has to be properly disseminated. It may be mentioned in this connection that the Delhi Police has introduced since 2006 computerisation of missing persons data. Before computerisation of data, tracing of missing persons was about 25 per cent. It jumped to 73 per cent in 2006 and subsequently, about 80 per cent of missing children were traced. This is a notable achievement. Global display of available information has helped not only the police but the general public too. According to the orders of the Delhi High Court, a cell relating to missing persons/ children has been set up in the Central Bureau of Investigation and entrusted with the task of coordinating efforts all over the country for tracing missing persons and children. However, due to resource constraint, the cell is not functioning effectively. It is necessary to strengthen the cell to enhance its capacity to coordinate and investigate criminal cases relating to missing children. The NHRC committee has suggested that preliminary enquiries into cases of missing persons could be outsourced by the police to NGOs who are willing to undertake this task. States can notify them. The Ministry of Home Affairs may issue appropriate guidelines to the NGOs in this regard. Synergy between law enforcement agency and NGOs will be of great use and help in this regard. In the words of the NHRC Committee, missing children constitute "a veritable black hole in law enforcement". Unfortunately, the police have so far failed to acknowledge the gravity of the problem and steps to trace missing children remain a matter of low priority. To successfully grapple with the growing menace, there is need for strong political commitment, mobilisation of resources and coordination between police, social service, administration and other institutions of civil society.
The writer, a former Director-General, National Human Rights Commission, is currently Senior Fellow, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi
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Toothless bodies won’t do
Our
overseas non-resident Indians (NRIs) have been impressing upon the Union Government to resolve various problems confronting them. On its part, the government holds the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas every year to take stock of their grievances. However, it is more a ritual to appease the NRI sentiment than to identify and tackle their problems on priority. All that the NRIs want is a patient hearing by the government and effective, expeditious and timely resolution of their problems in India. Of course, having been accustomed to practical dispute resolution systems abroad, they draw parallels and baffled Indian authorities, in turn, offer instant out-of-the-box remedies to save face. The result is an avoidable mess. Consider some examples. A distraught husband from Patiala settled in Australia litigates for divorce while his Tamil wife settled in Hong Kong petitions courts for maintenance and child custody. A separated US Green Card holder husband relocated in Mumbai sues for divorce while the US-based wife from Varanasi seeks child support and benefits sitting in the US. A separated NRI couple in the UK seeks the British court intervention to settle terms for children to visit India (with their mother) and ensure their return to the UK. A divorced NRI husband in the US seeks child custody from mother resettled in Hyderabad. A harried British Asian Muslim husband in the UK seeks to dissolve Nikahnama contracted in Lucknow. An embittered Swiss father of Punjabi origin seeks quick dissolution of marriage solemnised in New Delhi. A traumatised Indian doctor in the UK seeks return of children removed to Gujarat by wife who has launched proceedings under the Domestic Violence Act in Satara. These are real-life professional encounters which defy legislative solutions. Today, the huge Indian diaspora nearing 30 million in 130 countries abroad poses and exports from their foreign homes unique family law problems in the Indian domain which do not find ready answers in existing Indian matrimonial legislations. Hence, judicial innovation to carve out individual relief in distinct NRI family disputes has become imperative on a case-to-case basis. But these are not consistent statutory remedies. Recent media reports reflect a new pitch and euphoria to generate overnight answers to these NRI problems. They range from creating an NRI Commission, constituting NRI Cells, deputing designated authorities for NRI problems and forming special NRI Committees. However, such half-baked administrative measures soon fade away and resurface with the NRIs’ participation in the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in the following year. Unfortunately, the haunting ghosts return every year to resurrect with new dimensions. The multifaceted problems of NRIs arise in the realm of validation and dissolution of marriages, enforcement of divorce decrees, maintenance obligations, matrimonial property regime, child custody/abduction, inter-country adoptions, testate/intestate succession, tenancy of property, land ownership, property investments and surrogacy issues. NRIs seek resolution of their problems from an Indian legal system not designed and created for resolving their new age issues. Times have changed but statutory Indian laws have not kept pace. Most NRI problems do not even find definition or recognition in Indian laws. Our legislators have no time to amend them. Against this background, measures such as NRI cells, commissions, committees or other bodies will not help. No such authority without statutory powers will have any credibility in the framework of the existing legal system. Parallel set-ups without statutory sanction are redundant. Such bodies will at best be recommendatory officers whose decisions will need judicial sanction. The aggrieved NRI or affected party will still need to invoke powers of a Court of Competent Jurisdiction for actual relief. Accordingly, the government needs to seriously enact new laws or amend existing laws to define the NRI problems and prescribe solutions. One such notable example is found under Section 13 of The East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act, 1949. Its amendment in 2001 created a special class of NRI landlords who had a special right to recover immediate possession from tenants occupying their premises by a special summary procedure. Likewise, in the family law arena, limping NRI marriages, abandoned spouses, abducted children, overseas adoption and surrogate relationships need statutory solutions. Family laws for NRIs need an exhaustive overhaul. Either all existing family law legislations should be amended or a single comprehensive Indian legislation should be enacted for all family-related legal problems of NRIs. Similar is the situation in the field of property laws. Tenancy, succession, registration, investment and transfer of ownership of property form a bulk segment of NRI problems. But again, scattered, outdated legislations will serve no purpose. Thus, there is a dire need for multiple amendments or for enacting a new NRI property law dealing with their problems comprehensively. Special legislative overhaul measures will fail if the legal system does not create or empower special courts to deal with these legal NRI issues. There is a need to evolve a complete responsive machinery with proper rules under the newly enacted or amended NRI laws. The time has come for change. The answer lies in not creating cells or other toothless bodies but in enacting appropriate NRI laws, making corresponding procedural rules to implement them and vesting authority in competent courts to adjudicate NRI disputes. This alone can provide an effective remedy. This must be done on an all-India basis. Piecemeal state legislations will not do. Above all, there is need for a sincere commitment and resolve on the part of the government to enact or amend laws for NRIs.
The writer, a Chandigarh-based Advocate of the Supreme Court and Punjab and Haryana High Court, is the author of “India, NRIs and the Law” (Universal Publishing Co., 2009).
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On Record
Poet
Vairamuthu is a Sahitya Akademy winner and five times national award winner for film lyrics. Most eminent Tamil poets with literary achievements have shunned film world. Those who have succeeded in penning lyrics for commercial films have not succeeded in serious literature.However, Vairamuthu has succeeded in both. He has written 7,000 film songs, besides 32 books including poetry collections and novels. His novel Kallikkattu Idhikaasam (epic of Kallikadu), which narrates the loss of land and livelihood of people in about 50 villages, when the Vaigai dam project in southern Tamil Nadu was implemented in 1957, won him the Sahitya Akademy award. He was born in the Mettur village which lies submerged under the Vaigai dam now. The displacement of people, the impact of the mega project to the environment, people’s love of native land and their emotions are brought out in a simple language in the novel. While renowned poets were reluctant to write lyrics for film songs, saying that it will dilute literary standards, Vairamuthu entered the Tamil film world through the film Nizhalgal (Shadows) in 1980. His first song Pon maalai pozhudhu (golden evening time), which became a commercial hit, was hailed by literary critics as well. He speaks to The Tribune in Chennai about his life and poetry. Excerpts: Q: Tell us about your passion for poetry? A:
Vadugapatti village, where we are settled, is a beautiful place in Tamil Nadu. The hills of Western Ghats, the lush green valley below, murmuring rivers, moonlit nights, frequent drizzles, wandering clouds, deep woods and the people I met inspired me to compose poems. As a student of Tamil literature, I could read the ancient and modern Tamil poetry. I was also fascinated by film songs penned by poets like Kannadasan. Q: Did anyone in your home or village encourage you? A:
Normally, nobody will advise one to take to poetry. It was a common belief that poetry and poverty lived together. At that time, most writers, painters, poets or anyone skilled in fine arts were not economically successful. Only the enthusiasm and zeal of a person for poetry will drive him towards to this profession, amid discouragement and taunts. Q: How did you sustain your interest? A:
I had faith in myself. I had the conviction that I was born to create literature. Q: What is your first poem and the one that first saw print? A:
I cannot recollect the first. Perhaps it was born in a meadow and got buried there. My poem Ilanenjin Ekkam (Yearning of a young heart) was first published in Then Mazhai (1970), the Pachaippan College Students Journal. Then, I was 20 years old and was doing BA II year. Q: Although you are a poet, your novel Kallikaattu Idhikaasam won the Sahitya Akademy award. Why did you choose the form of novel instead of poetry? A:
As a young boy, my parents and relatives used to narrate how their native village was submerged under the Vaigai dam. For the people, who were displaced by the project, it was not a simple incident. The trauma and agony involved, the passions displayed and the sufferings of the people, the huge environmental impact, the loss of flora and fauna and the beloved cattle and pets moved my heart, whenever I heard those incidents. I wanted to record them in contemporary literature. I wanted the message to reach everyone. If I opted for a poetic form, it will be understood only by a section of readers, who appreciate poetry. So, I chose the novel form. As a contemporary creator, I should reflect the conflicts and issues of my time, besides the nature and people around me. You should be able to feel their pain, sweat and tears when you go through a literary creation. I think the content of a literary creation is more important than its
form.
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Profile
Akkineni
Nageswara Rao,
popularly known as ‘ANR’, has created a record in Indian film
industry. He is 87, having worked in several films in his 69-year-long
acting career including mythological, social and drama films. He is
still going strong despite two heart attacks, having undergone a bypass
surgery in 1972. He recovered from another heart attack in 1988. A
recipient of the Padma Bhushan and the Dada Saheb Phalke Award, the
secret of his health is job satisfaction. He admits that his audience
makes him an ever-green hero. ANR’s education was limited to primary
school level only because of his parents’ poor economic condition. He
took to acting very early, having acted in street plays at the age of
nine. Male leads often played female roles, then, in Indian plays like Raja
Harish Chandra. And ANR enacted female roles on stage. He played the
lead role in over 256 Telugu and 26 Tamil films most of which were big
hits. ANR is credited with influencing Telugu film producers and
creating a base for Telugu films in Hyderabad. The Telugu film industry
in its early days worked in Madras. The new Andhra Pradesh state was
carved out from the Madras Presidency in 1956. ANR insisted that the
Telugu film industry should be based in Hyderabad. He established his
own production studio —Annapurna — to facilitate this.
There were no girls in ANR’s family and so his mother used to
decorate him as a girl. This helped him play the girl’s role in stage
plays. "I developed myself as a heroine in stage plays", he
says. Once he was returning after giving a performance at Tenali.
Ghantasala Balaramaiah of Pratibha Pictures noticed him at the
Vijayawada railway station and booked him for Kalyanarama role in Sitarama
Jananam film. Though this was his first film as an artiste on the
screen, the one that first saw the light is Dharmapatni,
feasturing Santakumari and Bhanumati in which he played a guest role. He
entered the films in 1944 and continued his journey as an artiste. In
his long film career, he played different kinds of roles and lived with
them. "The audience blessed me by noticing my hard work. Our family
is in this position because of the blessing of the film industry and
because of the affection shown by the audience in general and my fans in
particular". With no formal education, each of the film he played
stood as a teacher for him and taught him several lessons. Swayam
Siddha, a Bengali novel scripted by Asha Purna, was made into a film
Ardhangi in Telugu. In this film, there is a scene where the wife
salutes ANR, her husband, by touching his feet. Later, ANR does the
same. In another film, a girl slaps the hero. Irked over this, he
marries her. However, that girl tells ANR, the hero, that while he could
enjoy her physical body as her husband, he could not win her soul. He,
too, tells her that he would enter into her life only after he wins her
love. Likewise, ANR played the role of a coward lover in Devadasu.
The hero in that film could not accept the love of the heroine as he was
afraid of his father and finally destroys his life. All these films and
morals in these movies taught him several things in life. Various
writers changed the structure of Tenali Ramakrishna in many ways
but no one could exactly explain what he was. But in this film, moulding
of character is excellent. It was clearly explained that Ramakrishna is
intelligent and blessed by Kalika Devi. With his poetry and
intelligence, he was able to save the country’s prestige many times.
ANR played the role of a patriot with great professional excellence.
What about Mahakavi Kalidasu? Kalidasu is a fool, who cuts the
branch on which he sits. Later, the fool turns into a big poet and
litterateur after Kalika Devi writes Beejaksharas on his tongue.
The role has different variations and shades as a fool, innocent and
later as a litterateur. "I am quite fortunate that I got the
opportunity to play such great roles. Though I did not study much, I was
able to get compliments as a great artiste like Valmiki", says ANR.
ANR was asked if he had failed to become an artiste, what he would
have become? He replied: "Had I not become a film artiste, I would
have spent my life tilling the land in our native place as I was born in
a poor farmers’ family".
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THE Prime Minister and hence the government has accepted responsibility for the wrongful appointment of Mr P.J. Thomas as the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC). But that still does not answer why important functionaries did not record the impropriety of selecting him as CVC. Had they done so, the Thomas imbroglio would never have occurred. Suppression of adverse facts would have been unheard of in earlier times.
