All the VIP's Men

ALL THE VIP’s MEN


The news item that Delhi Police is devoting about 60 percent of its their time for VIP duty includung traffic control during VIP movement and sentry duty at VIP’s houses was quite amazing. The VIP duty of Delhi Police is in addition to similar service provided by other para-military forces like CRPF, ITBP and the elite SPG commandos. People who are provided with special security include several former ministers and retired bureaucrats.

Of late, request for security cover by the so-called VIPs is often used as an alibi for retaining palatial Government accommodation and as a status symbol. Is it necessary for the former ministers and retired bureaucrats to stay in the capital at the cost of the Public exchequer? The alarming rate of crime in the capital is due to the fact that majority of Police personnel are engaged in VIP security ignoring their primary duty of maintaining law and order.

Delhi roads are already overcrowded and the movement of VIPs especially at peak hours throws the traffic system out of gear creating untold miseries to the hapless commuters.

People sitting at the helm of affairs should realise that high security cover to VIPs has been necessitated due to poor law and order situation. Government should give more emphasis to improve the general law and order situation so that requirement for VIP security will be automatically reduced.

A country which has failed to provide even basic amenities like potable drinking water, food, shelter, clothing, primary education etc to a large segment of its population even after 52 years of its independence can ill afford such colossal expenditure of crores of rupees for the protection of its self proclaimed VIPs and in the process exposing the lives and limbs of common man to great peril. It is ironical that in the largest democracy of the country, substantial portion of tax-payer’s hard earned money is spent on a miniscule section of the population instead of using it for the overall development of the country.