MUMBAI: The 66-member Maharashtra State Security Council (SSC) formed after the November terror attacks in Mumbai has turned into a big joke with bureaucrats referring to it as more of a jumbo circus than a serious and effective kind of an advisory committee to oversee security measures.
The funniest part of the jumbo circus set up by the state government is that many of the members are totally ignorant of matters relating to the security.
The worst kind of taunt about the SSC has come from none other than the former Police Commissioner of Mumbai, Julio Ribeiro, who referred to the committee, which held its first meeting here yesterday, as a joke.
People, he said, were taking security seriously after the November terror attacks and want the police to function without political interference, and warned that if this does not happen, then the people would not spare the political leaders, too.
“The committee is nothing but a mockery. The government is not serious about the security aspects and the recent terror attacks in Mumbai are not being taken seriously as it is needed. The jumbo circus committee is nothing more than like a mini-assembly and I don’t know how much time each member will get to speak and I also wonder whether any suggestions will be taken seriously or if it will be only talking and doing nothing,” Ribeiro said.
About the selection of the members of the committee, there are 13 politicians, 17 bureaucrats and former bureaucrats including public sector appointees and the members of the committee have been chosen in the way a political party selects a candidate, and has also representation from the business, media, films, advertising as well as social activists.
Journalist Teesta Setalvad, who is also a social activist, feels that a 15-18 member SSC would have been ideal instead of the mammoth 66-member committee. She, however, welcomed the wide selection of members from different sections of the trade and industry and questioned if it is not too much of a good thing.
Speaking to the media on her opinion of the SSC, Setalvad said, “My experience with government-appointed committees has been bitter. The meetings are convened in such a manner that all members cannot even attend. They intimate us one or two days before the meetings. As far this council is concerned, all the members are renowned figures from their fields. If the meetings end with only the politicians and bureaucrats attending, the whole intention is marred.”
