Wouldn't PRAJA have been a better option for BTP?

Some 15 days back, the AdlCP(tr) posted a lengthy note on Facebook, which began with "Dear friends - While we can congratulate ourselves for touching the figure of 5500 in a limited period since we started face book for Bangalore Traffic Police, we need to rethink the objectives and methodology of interacting on this forum", and ended with "Let us make this forum more productive, more interactive by increasing the members so that the contradictions can be eliminated by the members themselves rather than directing everything on us. The idea is not 50000 people telling one person to what to do but telling each other as to what we need to do or not do. And that is how this forum will become more robust & productive. It is not a question of 'You' and 'I' but an issue of 'We' that can we make this forum more effective. Shall we give it a try?"

The janata loved this, and accolades and all kinds of suggestions started pouring in, making the AdlCP(tr) more of a hero than he already was.

From about a month before this, ie after the AdlCP(tr) had admitted before the Information Commission that the enforcement of the M V Act in respect of display of the registration number plates was the BTP's responsibility (check this), I had once in a while been posting pictures of violations in this regard on the BTP Facebook wall. Many others followed suit too. The BTP used to respond with a request to specify the time and place in order for them to book the complaint. While providing the details in response, I also added that "You don't need to chase them specifically. Just get on to the road, and they are there all over. Resulting out of your drive at catching and fining those jumping traffic lights, that kind of offence has perceptibly reduced atleast at the more important junctions, where your men are generally present. If you carry out a simultaneous drive at enforcing the number plate display rules, I am sure, you will see the same effect here also. The pictures we are posting are just to show the extent of the violations". Others too responded with similar comments.

So, when, somewhere in the middle of the AdlCP(tr)'s lengthy note, I had noticed " - - - our limitations too need to be appreciated. In fact many of our limitations cannot be shared in the public domain for obvious reasons", I chose to turn a party-pooper and posed to him with "By that, Sir, if you are saying that you cannot take action against those who refuse to display number plates as per M V Act, but continue to do so only in Kannada, I am afraid that's not good enough, particularly considering the heightened terrorism scenario prevailing across the country. The seriousness of the issue can be guaged from a reading of the post linked here, which I am sure you are not unaware of. And, as for citizen participation in traffic management, I had suggested this "traffic marshals" programme to you long ago. Many on PRAJA had endorsed it and expressed readiness in participating. And now, we have the even bigger Facebook community. Do you want to give it a shot now?"

The AdlCP(tr) however chose to ignore all of these, and responded only to matters where he did not have any "limitations", self-imposed, I would say, apart from its amounting to dereliction of duty on his part. So much so, one person even went on to comment "Yes but where is the will? Even the AdlCP(tr) (he had named him), despite his being better and tech friendly, has remained silent and no action. I thought with such FB interface etc, things may improve, but all appears for the show".

In response to a subsequent post, I alluded to the matter of dereliction of duty, as well as to my blog on the Information Commission order (check here) in my comment. Immediately thereafter, between his assistant and perhaps himself, AdlCP(tr) seems to have removed all my posts and comments from the BTP wall. At the same time, the odd comments by Kannada chauvinists like (1) "BTP and all fellow Indians - Kannada is the official language of Karnataka and vehicle No plates can be in Kannada. Rules and regulations are made in accordance with Locals, not for people who immigrate to the city. why dont BTP and the others simply understand this logic"; (2) "Majority of the people in Karnataka can read alphabets and numbers written in Kannada only, and not in English and Arabic respectively", the AdlCP(tr) has allowed to remain, whereas, as a responsible and senior officer, one would have expected him to advise them on the correct position as per the law of the land.

Incidentally, the fallacy in 2nd argument above was exposed by another person who cited the case of the currency notes, which are common for the entire country, and even those generally classified as 'illiterates' have enough knoweledge of the English alphabets and Arabic numerals they are made out in to distinguish them.

And, even as recently as on 21st July, one person had posted this picture of a 'Cheetah' on the BTP Fecebook wall. Mercifully, the response from BTP didn't ask for time and date.

Now, it may be argued on the AdlCP(tr)'s behalf that as a non-Kannadiga officer (though, belonging to the Karnataka cadre), if he went about enforcing the rules srtictly on these 'sensitive' issues, a Mukhyamantri Chandru (supposedly the Chairman of the Kannada Development Authority) may call up Mr Ashoka (the Home Minister), and between them, they may shunt him off to some Gulbarga or Bidar, putting an end to the comforts of Bangalore city life the AdlCP(tr) has been enjoying all along. However, such an argument can be extended as an excuse to avoid facing up to any and every situation, which in fact is what is happening all over, leading to the near anarchic situation prevailing in the state as well as the country. And, when Mr Prakash Singh, IPS (retd) (the former DIG of Police from MP, whose PIL led to the Supreme Court ordering the setting up of a committee to advice on the course of 'Police Reforms', out of which came the Soli Sorabjee Committee report - check this) stated recently, in the context of the Mumbai bomb blasts, that "building up of a secure environment is all about enforcement of rules at the 'thana' levels, more than at the Home ministry levels, and, any kind of laxity there will necessarily have its impact higher up the command chain", this is exactly what he meant.

Actually, if this was what was bothering the AdlCP(tr), at least when the matter reached the Information Commission (a quasi-judicial body) level, he could have informed the Home minister that the matter had now become serious, and he had no option other than to take necessary action. That he chose to ignore it even beyond that stage, plainly classifies as dereliction of duty. If one wants to play so safe, he should plainly opt out of government (public) service.

Another moral of the story could be that if you try to use 'transparency' just to project your image, there is always the risk that it will back-fire.

PS:
1) I may add here that I have great appreciation for the work the AdlCP(tr) has done so far. But, along with that comes expectations of more from him. And, that's perhaps where the problem lies. You can rationalise that he is after all a human being - but, it can only be rationalisation!

2) I would also like to stress that this is not part of any campaign against the use, or promotion of Kannada. I fully support all pursuits towards promotion of the language, and the local culture through it. And, not just Kannada, but even Tulu, Konkani, Coorgi (and even Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi, and Hindi), these being the other mother tongues of sizable sections of Bangaloreans/ Kannadiga's. For more on that, please browse through this blog.