Nagaland Government’s decision to ban pre-paid Mobile services in the state by the end of this month is indeed one of the poorest decisions that anyone at the high office would ever take. I don’t think that we are in such a situation where we should be going to an extend of banning all the pre-paid mobile services in the state. Of course the concern of the Government is very much appreciated but on the other hand, I feel that the Government should have handled the issue in different and much better way.
Home Minister of Nagaland, Imkong L Imchen, justifying Government’s plan to ban pre-paid Mobile services in the state stated that, “Almost 90% of the crimes in the state are committed using pre paid Mobile SIM Card and since law and order is a state of subject, we are planning to ban all the per-paid mobile services”. Now that makes me wonder whether banning pre-paid mobile services in the state would really be a solution to the problems as there are so many other means to commit a crime. What I feel is that, “It is not the pre-paid mobile that is creating law and order problem in the state, but it is the loose security system in the state that is creating the fuss”.
Agreeing to the functions of Home Minister, I.e., in charge of all matters related to the internal security and maintenance of law and order in the state, he should also not forget to do his job instead of taking easy measures thus causing inconvenience to the public.
Here’s a check on the security strength in the state and the incidents of crime and violent reported in an around the state according to the compendium of crime in India 2010, published by National crime records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs (Government of India).
According to the record, the actual police strength (both civil and armed) of the state is 10003, which figures 445 policeman per lakh population, which makes us the 7th highest in India. Also in terms of density of police personal (per square kilometer), Nagaland has 60.3, which is the 12th highest in India.
Incidents:
1. Incidents of violent crimes recorded in the state is 228 which figures at the rate of just 10% (per one lakh population), which is the lowest in India.
2. Incidents of crime against public order reported in the state is just 3 at the rate of 0.13% (per one lakh population), while the highest stands at 7996 (Karnataka State). Here again we have the lowest crime reported.
3. An incident of crime against body recorded by the state is 201, at the rate of 8.93% (per one lakh population), which is again the lowest in India. The highest stands at 72.45% (Madhya Pradesh).
4. Incidents of IPC crime recorded by the state is 1059 at the rate of 47.1% (per one lakh population), which is also the lowest in India, while the highest stands at 424.1% (Kerala).
5. Person arrested under IPC crimes is recorded at 1066, at the rate of 47.7 (per one lakh population), which is again the lowest in India.
Having such a good strength of security in the state and the incident of various crimes recorded at its lowest, how can the government think of taking such an extreme step instead of trying to put the things in order? If the law would have been a “Little Tighter”, then the need won’t arise for the government to take such a step. It’s high time the security system in the state needs to be revised. As to the problems arising due to the so-called pre-paid mobile, the misuse of pre-paid mobiles can be stopped by imposing stricter rules on all the mobile operator services in the state so that the mobile operator companies won’t issue pre-paid SIM cards without proper ID proof.
Why should the innocent ones suffer when the crimes are being committed by others?
“Deal with the Security and law & order problems, instead of making mobile pre-paid a scapegoat”
E.M.Odyuo
Adm : We The Nagas
