Commissions for police, admin, judicial reforms on anvil
NEW DELHI, Mar 25 (UNI): The government will constitute separate Commissions for Centre-State relations, administrative and police reforms, judicial reforms (if permitted by the judiciary), and for providing good governance, Home Minister Shivraj Patil announced here today.
Talking to senior UNI journalists at the agency's headquarters here, the Home Minister said a framework was being prepared which would be sent to states for their opinion.
"Unfortunately," the Indian Constitution does not provide for any forum where the Centre and states could come together and discuss issues, like in many foreign countries," he said, noting that the only platform available was the Inter-State Council (ISC), which was used for redressal of grievances.
Visualising the importance of Centre-State relations, former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had constituted three bodies, the Planning Commission, the National Development Council (NDC) and the National Integration Council (NIC), he added.
The NIC, which remained in abeyance for long, has been revived by the UPA government.
Talking about the unimplemented recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission, the Home Minister said there were about 270 ecomendations made by the Commission out of which some were implemented and some rejected.
About 60 such recommendations remained, out of which seven or eight were being implemented in consultations with state governments.
To a question on Police Commissions set up so far, the Home Minister said the Commission on Police Reforms would consider the recommendations of all the earlier Commissions set up so far.
Of the recommendations given by the eight Police Commissions set up so far, some had been recommended and some rejected.
On the Judicial Commission, Patil said it could be only set up after getting clearance from the judiciary.
The task of finalising the terms and reference of the Commission on Centre-State relations has been entrusted to a Group of Ministers which met recently for this purpose.
The proposed five-member Commission will consist of a Chairman, who may be a retired Chief Justice of India or a Judge of the Supreme Court.
The tenure of the Commission will be two years.
The Home Minister had earlier called for extensive discussions on the functioning of Government at all levels to identify the measures required for promoting good governance.
He had said that the functioning of Government organs not only at the Centre, but also at the State, district and panchayat levels should be examined and concrete corrective steps taken with focus on welfare of the people.
Underlining the need to have a proper vision for the future, he said that sometimes results of steps taken now are only available after years.
"If the vision or direction is wrong, mistakes may take place which may prove to be very difficult to correct," he said.
Dispelling the notion that governance simply meant providing security, Patil said that ensuing economic, social and cultural justice was equally important.
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