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Bhubaneswar: With rage of common man outpouring on road over the implementation of the amended Motor Vehicle Act (MVA) right in the heart of the State's Capital city, the 5T initiative with transparency at its core, being recently launched in Odisha police, faces its first public test.
Since the implementation of the MVA 2019, the outrage on road in Bhubaneswar has been a first in the country. When police across the country, barring few states like Punjab, Rajasthan etc, have been on their toes to implement the act strictly, the situation turned explosive in Odisha on Saturday.
In fact, the rage was over alleged preferential treatment to police personnel and State government vehicles in violation of the new traffic norms.
This aspect highlights the height of opaqueness in State police and administration. Even, many viral videos on social media showing cops and other State officials throwing rules to wind have nudged the matter to such a boiling state that created law and order problem in the afternoon hours in the capital city, and police resorted to baton charge.
The State police, here the Commissionerate Police, seems to have lost out in the perception index in the eyes of public. The State government, which has been claiming big on introducing 5T in policing, failed to heed to an important gesture made by Delhi police around September 1, when it issued an order that categorically had
stated that Delhi Police personnel will have to shell out twice the penalty, if they are caught flouting rules under the new Motor Vehicles Act .
The order said “any authority that is empowered to enforce the provision of this Act shall, if such authority commits an offence under this act, be liable for twice the penalty corresponding to that offence under this act”. And the order has simultaneously asked all the unit in-charges to "brief and sensitise" their staff.
It is lack of these initiatives on the part of the State police, and the conduct of some cops as seen in the viral videos, that might have sparked the outrage among the local populace which is also indicative of the lack of steam in 5T in policing.
