Police Reforms Committee 2006

The Police Reforms Committee (PRC) of 2006 was a high‑level, Ministry of Home Affairs‑appointed panel tasked with a comprehensive review of India’s policing architecture. Convened in August 2006, the committee’s mandate was to diagnose systemic inefficiencies, propose a modern legal‑institutional framework, and chart a roadmap for a police service that could meet the demands of a federal, democratic, and increasingly urban nation. Its significance lies in the breadth of its vision—calling for a structural split between investigation and law‑enforcement, the creation of independent police oversight bodies, and the institutionalisation of a national training university—elements that continue to shape policy debates more than a decade later. ## Origins and Mandate The PRC was announced by Home Minister Shivraj Patil on 12 August 2006, reflecting growing parliamentary and civil‑society pressure after high‑profile incidents such as the 2002 Gujarat riots and the 2005 Delhi bombings. Chaired by former Director General of Police K. V. R. N. Rao, the twelve‑member panel blended senior police officers, former judges, and academic experts, including Justice (Retd.) B. N. Kirpal and IPS officer J. N. Singh. Its terms of reference, codified in Ministry of Home Affairs Order G‑S‑2/2006, required a review of the Constitution’s Article 21‑related policing provisions, the Police Act 1861, and state‑level statutes, as well as an assessment of recruitment, training, and accountability mechanisms. The committee’s methodology combined field visits to 30 districts across 12 states, consultations with over 200 stakeholders—including victims’ groups, NGOs, and senior bureaucrats—and a comparative study of policing models in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. By early 2007, the PRC had compiled a 300‑page draft report, which was tabled in Parliament on 15 December 2007 as the “Report of the Committee on Police Reforms”. ## Key Recommendations The PRC’s flagship proposal was the separation of investigative functions from routine law‑enforcement, recommending that each state establish a distinct Directorate of Investigation (DI) staffed by career investigators. It advocated for the creation of a National Police Commission (NPC) with statutory powers to oversee recruitment, promotions, and disciplinary actions, modelled on the existing National Human Rights Commission. At the state level, the committee urged the formation of State Police Commissions (SPCs) with composition mirroring the NPC—comprising a retired senior police officer, a retired judge, and a civil‑society representative. Training reforms featured prominently: the report called for a National Police Academy (NPA) to be upgraded into a full‑fledged National Police University (NPU) offering postgraduate degrees in criminology, forensic science, and public administration. It also recommended a merit‑based recruitment system, the introduction of a performance‑linked appraisal matrix, and the institutionalisation of community policing through “police‑people liaison committees”. Finally, the PRC suggested a uniform code of conduct, mandatory human‑rights modules, and the use of body‑worn cameras in urban patrols. ## Implementation and Institutional Legacy Several recommendations were swiftly acted upon. In 2009, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued the “Police Modernisation Scheme” (PM‑2009) that allocated ₹1,200 crore for upgrading the NPA’s infrastructure, a step that paved the way for the National Police University Act 2022. The Act, passed on 30 March 2022, established the NPU in Hyderabad with a campus of 200 acres and an annual intake of 500 postgraduate students. State‑level police commissions materialised in Karnataka (2009), West Bengal (2011), and Tamil Nadu (2015), each endowed with powers to review promotions and investigate complaints against senior officers. However, the separation of investigation and law‑enforcement remains uneven. While Maharashtra created a Directorate of Investigation in 2010, other large states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar continue to house investigative units within the regular police hierarchy. The National Police Commission, envisaged as a central oversight body, has yet to be legislated; the 2021 draft bill stalled in parliamentary committee deliberations, leaving the NPC as a long‑standing recommendation rather than an operative institution. ## Impact and Ongoing Challenges The PRC’s influence is evident in the heightened discourse on police accountability and professionalisation. Its emphasis on merit‑based recruitment contributed to the 2019 amendment of the All‑India Services (Recruitment) Rules, which introduced a national-level entrance examination for IPS candidates. Community policing pilots in Delhi and Pune, launched in 2014, trace their conceptual lineage to the committee’s liaison‑committee model. Yet, implementation gaps persist: the lack of a statutory NPC hampers uniform enforcement