The cadres of the civil and police services have been politicised and their constituents misused for securing short term political objectives. While the entire administrative apparatus in the states has been politicised, weakened and made ineffective perhaps the most seminal damage has been done to the law and order maintenance machinery.

The selection of IPS officers to be appointed as Superintendents of Police (SPs) and of IAS officers to serve as District Magistrates (DMs) has been influenced by considerations of caste, political recommendations, amenability to extra-constitutional direction andother extraneous factors.

Even those appointed on such basis are not assured of lasting their full tenures, being subject to sudden shifts for the slightest failure to measure up to the day to day whims of the local politicians. Thus even a difficult to manage district may see new DMs and SPs every two or three months. With the CMs having a direct hand in the appointment of DMs and SPs, who are expected to keep the CM directly informed, the erstwhile command and control systems and accountability have been altogether eroded.

The state home and chief secretaries and Director Generals of Police, many of whom may also have been appointed on similar considerations as in the case of DMs and SPs, cannot obviously be held accountable for serious law and order failures.

In the earlier years the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had both the competence and the will to take timely note of a public disorder arising in any state and to immediately enforce effective remedial measures.

Progressively, over theyears, MHA's influence and control have been weakened. The administration of All India and Central Services was taken away from MHA's control to a department under the charge of the PM. Today, the home minister is not fully responsible even for managing the IPS cadre.

Likewise, the charge of the CBI was also transferred. From time to time, depending upon the standing and strength of the incumbent home minister, it is debatable whether even the Intelligence Bureau (IB) is fully answerable to him. In this scenario it would be wasting time and energy in looking for reasons which have led to the continuing law and order failures in various parts of the country.

The recent attacks on churches and assaults on members of the Christian community have cast a grim shadow on India's secular credentials and invited a host of external criticism, including a significant reference by the Pope to ``violations of the freedom of religions in parts of the globe''. The PM has expressed his serious concern by stronglycondemning the incidents.

Asking all state governments to ensure accountability at all levels of administration, the PM has directed that the DMs and SPs ``be made personally responsible'' for inquiring into complaints of harassment, provide immediate protection and take stern action against the culprits. The PM has stressed that the country's secular character must be maintained ``at all costs'' and asked the CMs to ensure that the entire state law and order machinery remains vigilant and performs effectively.

I have serious misgivings about the outcome of the PM's concerned advice to the states. The fact that a well commanded, functionally effective and accountable law and order machinery no longer exists in most of the states cannot be wished away. Also, the DM-SP and higher up the ladder relationships have long since been fractured. Who will take orders from whom and seek whose advice and direction? The systematic erosion of the entire law and order apparatus cannot be repaired overnight. And who,anyway, is concerned about this most serious situation, besides the PM?

Without debate, today a variety of serious deficiencies relate to the performance of the services, specially the IAS and IPS cadres in the states. These have arisen essentially from the manner in which these cadres have been mismanaged. Side by side is an unstable polity which is bereft of ideology, vision and perspective. Conse-quently, both the appointed and elected Executive have failed to meet the pressing challenges before them.

However, it has become convenient and fashionable to attribute all administrative failures to the ``vested interests of an entrenched bureaucracy''. Time has come to critically analyse and identify the vested interests and the factors which have led to their entrenchment. The productive management of our vast country will continue to require the availability of competent and honest public servants.

Let us not delude ourselves that the progressive empowerment of the citizenry will by itself result inchecking the burgeoning growth of our population, remove illiteracy and poverty and also engender a peaceful public order. Even highly developed countries are required to devote serious attention to law and order management. The PM has given a call of administrative accountability at all levels. Let this be followed by concrete measures.