The short-term recommendations to emerge from the interaction relate to administrative measures whilst the longer-term proposals seek to effect systemic changes through a replacement of the archaic Police Act, 1861, redefining of the relationship between the government and the police and public oversight of police activities.

Political use of the police has been witnessed in three forms: politicisation of the recruitment, posting and promotion processes, executive interference in investigations and turning the police force against political dissidents. The situation has been compounded by the discretionary authority of the police that led to abuse of power and violation of human rights.

The participants in the roundtable emphatically demanded police immunity from political control and training of the police force in human rights and people friendly behavioural norms. The police must act for the satisfaction of the communities rather than be a tool in the hands of the ruling authority.

Most debilitating factor in the police debacle is the peanut of allocations given to the police stations for running their day to day affairs. So cash-strapped they are that even for the purpose of carrying dead bodies from the scene of crime they have to depend on undefined sources. Given the starkly adverse citizen:police ratio they are physically over-stretched. Add to this, their poor salary to make both end meet, family-wise, which drive them to corrupt ways.

Several proposals for police reform are on the table but these are by themselves not sufficient, there is a deficit of community participation in their articulation. It is necessary to bring the views of all communities, especially the vulnerable ones, to bear on the finalisation exercise of the draft police reform programme. We therefore advocate wider public discourse on the subject.