NEW DELHI, May 2: A Parliamentary Committee has indirectly changed the Bihar Government of ignoring the Centre's advice on tackling crime in the state, particularly the menace of private armies.

The committee on Home Affairs does not spell out that its remark was directed at the state of Bihar, it blames ``some of the state governments'' of dithering on the Centre's advice. But the context in which the observation is made, indicates that the committee had Laloo Prasad Yadav's Bihar particularly in mind.

The committee said ``the law and order situation in the North-Eastern region and the state of Bihar is somewhat disturbing.'' While making no comments on the North-Eastern states at this point in the report, it referred to the killings by private senas in Bihar and dacoities on trains running through the state. ``Spate of train dacoities close on the heels of Bathani Tola and Hawaspur killings in Bihar point to a serious erosion in the maintenance of law and order and innocent people continue to suffer at the hands of lumpen elements,'' the report said. It added that the maintenance of law and order was primarily the constitutional responsibility of the concerned state Governments and the role of the union Home Ministry was ``somewhat limited.''

The report went on to say: ``It is really very sad that the advice of the Ministry to the state governments to take specified administrative steps to improve the law enforcement machinery so as to prevent killings of innocent people seldom evokes positive response, and some of the state Governments continue to dither in the matter.'' This was clearly a reference to the Ministry's bad experience with the Bihar Government. For earlier in the report, the committee had quoted Union Home Secretary, K Padmanabhaiah, complaining that the Bihar Government had not responded to the Centre's suggestions to deal with the activities of senas and Naxalite outfits. ``In Bihar, in particular, even though the incidents of killings between Naxalite groups have somewhat been brought under control, a number of senas such as ``Ranvir Sena have taken roots which are having a bearing on the law and order situation there,'' the Home Secretary told the Committee. He said though these senas had been banned, there was no effective monitoring of their activities. The July 1996 carnage in Bathani Tola in Bhojpur district and killing of ten Dalits in Hawaspur in March 1997 showed that the senas continued to strike.

The Secretary told the committee that after the Bathani Tola incident a Central Task Force consisting of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Intelligence Bureau as well as the local police and the state CID was set up.

Home Minister Indrajit Gupta sent a copy of the report prepared by the Task Force to Laloo Prasad Yadav, recommending that Bihar should prepare an Action Plan based on it.

``The Central Government has not received any response from the Bihar Government in the matter so far,'' the report said. The Centre took up the matter again after the Hawaspur massacre.

Apparently referring to this episode, the Committee said it was the ``paramount duty'' of the state govts to have a ``coordinated approach'' with the union Home Ministry on tackling crime. The Ministry should also evolve a ``strong mechanism'' to maintain constant interaction with the state governments.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.