A retired IG of CRPF (1975) with long experience in maintenance of Internal Security, in various theatres of action, in field, staff & instructional capacities.
Delhi/Uttarakhand, India
Joined September 2009
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North-East deserves greater attention, understanding and assimilation. India is a beautiful garden of myriads of flowers, let all bloom to their fullest.
An excellent treatise on the nature of social classes and their exploitative interactions. The author, an authority on Political science has evaded suggestions to check the emergence of such the exploitative classes in any society, like no more than two terms in assembly or parliament to any person and no political representation by two consecutive generations of any family.
Military cantonments sprinkled in a few cities & towns of the country, besides stacked with layers of proud history of past, are sane islands of greenery, spic & span maintenance, a fragrance of discipline floating in the air (where men in uniform or civvies can be seen walking in steps), refreshing the city air passing through their old trees, gardens & well manicured parks. Rather than taking them over for mundane corporate or municipal use, they may be spared with their proud history, greenery & clean refreshing air.
Why did the Indian Air Force come to Race Course?
The closure of the Air Force golf course at Race Course in New Delhi has attracted considerable attention. But it also offers an opportunity to revisit a rather interesting question. Why does the IAF have a station in the very heart of Lutyens’ Delhi?
Long before golf was played here, the area hosted cricket, parachute training, and RAF operations. The reason the IAF eventually established a major administrative station here in 1947 has much to do with Hyderabad State's uncertain future and the reorganisation of the Air Force at Partition.
The story begins in 1941, at Willingdon Airport.
In Sep 1941, the RAF established an Air Landing School at Willingdon Airport, now Safdarjung Airport, to train personnel of the newly raised 50th Indian Parachute Brigade. The Brigade comprised British, Indian and Gurkha parachute battalions, and the school represented one of the earliest organised efforts to develop military parachuting in India. Its equipment was rudimentary. The RAF initially had to make do with obsolete Vickers Valentia biplanes, modified to allow parachutists to jump through an opening in the fuselage floor.
Some of the earliest parachute jumps took place over the racecourse adjoining Willingdon Airport. One contemporary account describes a company commander landing on the upper tier of the racecourse grandstand and bouncing his way down to the bottom! The Air Landing School was initially housed under canvas, with accommodation and other buildings coming up near the Race Course. The school was also experimenting with the equipment and techniques required for airborne operations and aerial resupply.
Then, in April 1942, RAF Station New Delhi was formally established. Until then, Willingdon had been a civilian aerodrome used by several RAF units. A Communication Flight detached from No. 31 Squadron, RAF at Lahore had been operating from the airfield for some months. The Air Landing School occupied buildings on one side of the aerodrome, while other small RAF detachments operated alongside it.
The formation of RAF Station New Delhi brought these activities under a common Station Headquarters. The new establishment assumed responsibility for running the aerodrome, although its physical upkeep remained with the Public Works Department. The Station also administered the Air Landing School, a small Parachute Repair Section comprising one senior NCO and seven airmen, and a ground staging and refuelling party responsible for transit aircraft.
It was still a shared airfield. Civil flying continued, including operations by Indian National Airways and the Delhi Flying Club. By October 1942, when the Air Landing School moved to Chaklala near Rawalpindi, it had recorded 9,231 live parachute descents and qualified 1,511 trainees during its stay in Delhi. The 50th Indian Parachute Brigade would later see fierce fighting against the Japanese at Sangshak in March 1944.The school at Chaklala would later move to Agra where it remains to this date.
RAF Station New Delhi continued to serve the wartime Air Force. The Air Headquarters communication organisation, which itself traced its origins to a flight raised at Lahore in 1928, operated from Willingdon before moving to Palam in 1946.
But how did this RAF establishment eventually become the administrative centre of the independent Indian Air Force?
For that, we need to move forward to 1946, when the Royal Indian Air Force was beginning to consider its post-war organisation. An Air Force broadly rests on four functions: operations, training, maintenance and administration. The first three would eventually develop into operational Commands, Training Command and Maintenance Command. Administration was a somewhat different problem.
It meant managing medical services, accounts, education, security, infrastructure, transport, accommodation and the movement and holding of personnel across the country. It also meant looking after the numerous establishments that came directly under Air Headquarters but did not belong to conventional formations.
One of the early ideas was to concentrate much of this activity in peninsular India, with Arkonam (today's Arakkonam, home to the naval air station INS Rajali) emerging as a possible administrative centre.
The RIAF established a depot at Arkonam, and several important establishments were located in the Madras region. The Air Force Record Office, responsible for personnel records and the administration of airmen, had moved to Red Hills Lake near Madras in 1946. The Central Accounts Office had similarly moved from Bombay to Madras. But Partition complicated these plans considerably.
At the time, southern India comprised territories with different political arrangements. Madras was a province of British India, while Mysore and Hyderabad were princely states. The uncertainty was particularly acute in Hyderabad, where the Nizam had not committed himself to joining the Indian Union. This presented a problem for the RIAF because several of its important training establishments were situated in and around Hyderabad and Secunderabad, including at Hakimpet.
The Air Force consequently began reorganising its training infrastructure, shifting establishments towards locations where their future within India was more secure. In February 1947, No. 2 Ground Training School moved from Secunderabad to Tambaram, near Madras. No. 1 Ground Training School, formed at Hakimpet, subsequently moved to Jalahalli near Bangalore in November 1947. The RIAF Depot at Arkonam (also training airmen) also moved to Jalahalli that November.
With the southern stations being reorganised to accommodate training requirements, the earlier idea of concentrating the principal administrative establishments there became less practical.
The administrative institutions were consequently reorganised towards northern India. New Delhi was the natural destination, not least because Air Headquarters was located there and exercised functional control over many of these units, but also because RAF was vacating the Willingdon premises.
The Record Office moved from Red Hills Lake to Delhi in October 1947, while the Central Accounts Office also moved to the capital that year. The medical and other administrative establishments serving Air Headquarters formed part of the wider arrangement.
What was needed was a single organisation to administer these establishments locally while leaving their professional responsibilities with Air Headquarters. And so, on 1 Sep 1947, just seventeen days after Independence, Air Headquarters Administrative Instruction No. 01/47 established No. 10 Administrative Wing, Royal Indian Air Force, at Race Course, New Delhi.
The Wing was built upon the existing RAF establishment in the Willingdon and Race Course area. Its responsibilities extended to Air Headquarters and the numerous associated units and establishments in the capital. And the man selected to command the new Wing was quite a character.
Group Captain Kanwar 'Tiger' Jaswant Singh had joined the Indian Army in 1936 before transferring to the Air Force in 1940. He had flown with Nos. 2 and 3 Squadrons, commanded No. 2 Squadron during operations in Burma in the Second World War, and earned a reputation as a demanding commander and exceptional sportsman.
Yet, on 1 Sep 1947, Tiger found himself commanding an administrative Wing in a capital torn apart by communal violence. It was hardly a quiet assignment. The new Wing was immediately called upon to patrol riot-affected areas of Central Delhi and assist in maintaining law and order.
At the same time, Partition had divided the Air Force itself. Hundreds of airmen and their families were arriving from former RIAF establishments at Kohat, Peshawar, Risalpur, Chaklala and Mauripur, all now in Pakistan.
The Station's history records that approximately 900 airmen and 150 families required immediate boarding, lodging and assistance. It also had to help personnel moving in the opposite direction, including escorting those proceeding to Pakistan through Palam for onward travel. Tiger, who lived at 1 Kushak Road, was frequently seen travelling around Delhi on his James motorcycle, attending to the Station's responsibilities during these difficult months.
On 24 December 1947, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru addressed a gathering of nearly 2,000 officers and airmen. The Wing had already begun acquiring the ceremonial responsibilities that would eventually become one of the most visible features of Air Force Station New Delhi.
In May 1948, No. 10 Administrative Wing was redesignated as an RIAF Station. When India became a Republic on 26 January 1950, the 'Royal' prefix was dropped and the establishment became Air Force Station New Delhi. The sporting history of Race Course also continued alongside its military responsibilities.
The grounds that later became associated with golf had earlier been used for cricket, while the Station continued to host athletic meets and inter-unit competitions. The Station's photographic archives include images of athletic competitions in 1948, and sporting events continued to be held at Race Course over subsequent decades.
Meanwhile, the Station's military responsibilities continued to evolve. During the 1971 War, it housed fifteen Pakistan Air Force prisoners of war, including Flight Lieutenant Pervaiz Mehdi Qureshi, who would eventually become Chief of the Pakistan Air Force.
By the time Air Force Station New Delhi celebrated its Platinum Jubilee in 2022, it was providing administrative support to 46 IAF units apart from Air Headquarters, covering approximately 10,000 personnel. Its functions extended to medical services, accounts, transport, logistics, accommodation, schools, security, ceremonial duties and numerous other activities across Delhi-NCR.
The golf course became one of the more familiar features of Race Course in later decades, particularly to generations of serving and retired Air Force personnel. But the Air Force's presence here has a much older history.
#IAFHistory @IAF_MCC
Indian Railway can afford to reserve one sleeper coach each exclusively for def & paramilitary personnel in all long distance trains.
Alternatively may run #two trains by same name Ist & IInd at an interval of 12hrs for long distance to overcome the unrelenting passenger crowds and tickets sold at the ticket window or online.
छुट्टी खत्म होने के बाद ड्यूटी पर लौट रहे सेना के एक जवान को ट्रेन में सीट नहीं मिली,उसे अपने मासूम बच्चे और पत्नी के साथ फर्श पर सोना पड़ा था।
जवान की पत्नी कोमल ने इंस्टाग्राम पर इस मूवमेंट का वीडियो शेयर किया है.कोमल ने बताया कि उनके पति भारतीय सेना में हैं और परिवार के साथ ड्यूटी पर वापस जा रहे थे।
वीडियो में लिखा है कि सीट के लिए TTE से कई बार रिक्वेस्ट की, लेकिन TTE ने सिर्फ उन लोगों को सीट दी जिन्होंने एक्स्ट्रा पैसे दिए कोमल ने कैप्शन में लिखा कि कई बार सैनिकों को आखिरी समय पर छुट्टी मिलती है ?
या अचानक ड्यूटी पर बुलावा आ जाता है, इसलिए रिजर्वेशन नहीं मिल पाता एक फौजी की पत्नी होने के नाते मेरी सरकार से अपील है कि व्यवस्था में बदलाव किया जाएं।
सैनिक कोई मजाक नहीं हैंवे देश के लिए अपना सब कुछ बलिदान कर देते हैं।कोमल की इस भावुक पोस्ट के बाद सोशल मीडिया पर रेलवे की व्यवस्था पर सवाल उठ रहे हैं?
@RailMinIndia @RailwaySeva
It’s a matter of concern that a pervasive sense of grave #impunity has set in both public and pvt sector.
‘Rs 14.9-lakh X-Ray machine bought for Rs 37.8 lakh, 10 key procurement files missing’ indianexpress.com/article/ci…
Putting up a united front is as per statute but the gaps already in public domain still need to be explained.
The Election Commission has filed its reply in the Supreme Court to the petition on how the three-member Commission functions.
27 pages, approved by all three members. Its argument: every decision was unanimous, and a Commissioner’s note is a “suggestion,” not a decision.
Here’s what it addresses, and what it doesn’t.
🧵 (1/10)
Unless judiciary & bureaucracy, two pillars of democracy possess men with unwavering conscience & deep set sense of justice ingrained, the third pillar with assorted antecedents can’t be prevented from compromising the first two for their myopic aims.
रिटायर्ड जस्टिस संजय किशन कौल जी ने सीधे शब्दों में पूर्व चीफ जस्टिस चंद्रचूढ को compromised जज बताया, जो मोदी जी के इशारे पर फैसला दे रहे थे, जजों की नियुक्ति कर रहे थे।
भारतीय न्यायपालिका इतिहास के सबसे घटिया जज साबित हो गए चीफ जस्टिस चंद्र चूढ।
इससे पहले कि यही बात वर्तमान चीफ जस्टिस के लिए कोई कहे, उन्हें अपने फैसलों में सुधार करने की जरूरत है जो संविधान के अनुरूप हो ताकि देश की जनता का विश्वास न्यायपालिका की स्वतंत्रता पर बना रहे।।
वोट चोरी, SIR, चुनाव आयुक्तों की नियुक्ति के मामले में, शिव सेना की तोड़फोड़, टीएमसी की तोड़फोड़ जैसे महत्वपूर्ण मामलों पर शीघ्रता से और संविधान के अनुरूप निर्णय दे।।
न्यायपालिका को अब मोदी जी की पकड़ से बाहर निकलना ही होगा।
The corrections afoot on the unjustifiable actions drawing mass opposition, are tacit admission of overlooking of the lawful procedures, which once corrected should be followed by the graceful withdrawal from the election body by the concerned.
We support the rule of law.
Polling Booth Official shows the rule book to Power Drunk Subodh Uniyal, Minister and bars his entry inside the Polling Booth in #Uttrakhand. Kudos to the Polling Official !
I support the view. Systemic changes are required to make administration answerable directly to the citizens not the party in power- that’s the subtle flaw needing remedy.
विदेश में रहने के बाद भारतीयों को सबसे ओड चीज जो लगती है वह है आईएएस / पीसीएस अफ़सर.
भारत की सबसे प्रेस्टीजियस जॉब होती है आईएएस पीसीएस. भारत के सबसे टैलेंटेड बच्चे - डेढ़ अरब जनसंख्या का सर्वश्रेष्ठ दिमाग़ जिस काम में लगाया जाता है उस काम की कोई आवश्यकता ही नहीं.
दुनिया के शायद ही किसी विकसित देश लोकतांत्रिक देश में ज़िलाधिकारी, अप जिलाधिकारी टाइप पोस्ट होती हों. अमेरिका में तो किसी को ये कॉन्सेप्ट भी नहीं समझाया जा सकता कि लोकतंत्र में लोगों को अपने ऊपर एक अधिकारी की आवश्यकता होती है जिसे वह न चुन सकते हैं न हटा सकते हैं. सामान्य प्रशासन के लिए यहँ एक सीईओ होता है काउंटी में जिसे जनता चुनती है. फिर टैक्स लिपिक टैक्स का कार्य देखता है, क़ानून व्यवस्था शेरिफ़ देखता है, मजिस्ट्रेट का काम जज का और सजा दिलाने का काम डिस्ट्रिक्ट अटॉर्नी का. यह सारे पद जनता चुनती है तो सबको जनता के सामने अपनी काबिलियत भी दिखानी होती है. शहर में कोई मर्डर हो गया, अपराधी न पकड़ा गया तो शेरिफ की कुर्सी खतरे में. अपराधी के ख़िलाफ़ ठीक से मुकदमा न लड़ा गया तो DA को वोट न मिलेंगे. जज ने जल्दी सजा न सुनाई जो उसकी कुर्सी खतरे में.
आईएएस / प्रशासनिक सेवा भारत में ईस्ट इंडिया कंपनी की देन थी. गोरे साहबों को मीडिएटर चाहिए थे जो उनके आदेश सही हों या ग़लत उन्हें अक्षरशः पालन करवाने के लिए आईसीएस की आवश्यकता थी. भारत कब आजाद हुआ तो सिस्टम वही मैकाले वाला ही रहा बस आईएएस को आदेश देने वाले गोरे अंग्रेज की जगह काले अंग्रेज के रूप में मंत्री जी आ गए.
नेताओं को जिम्मेदारी / जनता के प्रति जवाबदेही से उचित तरीका लगा कि जो सिस्टम चल रहा है चलने दो, एक बार कुर्सी मिल गई तो फिर मजे ही मजे हैं. और वह सिस्टम चलता ही आ रहा है.
Courts have to uphold the law, not the executive or the bureaucracy !
Bombay High Court Orders ₹5 Lakh Compensation For Illegal Arrest; Directs Action Against Police, Magistrate | @NarsiBenwal
#Arrest
livelaw.in/high-court/bombay…
It’s time to #delink investigation from normal policing as recommended in Police Reforms ordered by Supreme Court during 2006 and further registration of #FIR of crimes be shifted from Police Station to Tehsildar Magistrate control room- public order being Magisterial responsibility, who would forward same to SDPO & concerned Police Station online instantly, attaching six police personnel from SDPO office to Tehsil office on six monthly rotation, involving no additional budgetary provision. #HMO
The governance must be conducted according to the constitution.
Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka have no respect for law, could breach peace: Delhi court
Read here: barandbench.com/news/saurav-…
@SauravDassss @AshutoshRanka
Protests have reset the system, exposed the oligarchs and redirected the senses back to those human minds which had taken leave of them.
𝗜𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗷𝗼𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗴𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 “𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗹.”
This only exposes the intellectual bankruptcy of people who reduce citizens defending the Constitution to insects.
There is no gang.
There are Indians upholding the Constitution you have repeatedly betrayed.
𝗕𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 , 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲𝘀.
Our laws are in place but implementing authorities as permeable to political interference by choice. Our state govts haven’t yet fully implemented Police Reforms ordered by the Supreme Court of India on 22 September 2006, with clear seven directions, to insulate the police from unwarranted external interference, in the case of Prakash Singh & Others v. Union of India.
(No state has fully implemented the reforms with all seven directives, 18 states have reflected the same in revised police Act, 11 states have issued executive orders rather than an legislative Act.)
Quick Question:-
People say India is more FREE than China is
Having lived for 68 years in India I know
I. Courts don't offer equitable justice to all citizens
II. Police, Officials and Politicians abuse their power massively
III. Any Indian can be jailed for 7 days without being presented before a magistrate
IV. Any Indian can be interrogated outside the presence of his lawyer by the police
V. Properties can be encroached by thugs without the slightest recourse barring an expensive settlement or a long drawn court battle
VI. Citizens can be forced to wait for 20 minutes, 30 minutes even 45 minutes for convoys of ministers to pass through
VII. The Average time to prove ones innocence is 6 1/4 years
VIII. The Average time to establish ones guilt is a single FIR registered in 20 minutes
IX. Bail is decided based on wealth of the accused rather than the weight of the case. A Theft accused could spend 15 months without bail and a rape accused could walk out in 3 months with bail
X. Corrupt Politicians & Officials are so frequent that people now regard Honest Politicians & Officials as fools
Where is this FREEDOM everyone talks about?
(If you say "Freedom to tweet this" - I believe the same freedom is available in every nation except North Korea maybe)
Is it such insurmountable challenge for the int apparatus to trace the tentacles spread far & wide and operating at will with impunity, howsoever finely dissolved in the society, so long these exist.
Monday morning questions: How does the Lawrence Bishnoi gang operate with such impunity, in India and abroad, when its BOSS is lodged in the high-security Sabarmati jail? Who is running the network, how is it being funded, and why has the state been unable to dismantle it? A gangster behind bars should not mean a gang beyond the law, no?
Very much required, for follg benefits:
1. Affords first promotion of LNk after 6 yrs at unit level with merely a Spl pay and second as Nk after 9 yrs;
2. Unit gets junior Cdrs for petty regimental duties and Nk as section 2IC.
Efforts shd also be made to release 3rd promotion of HC after 12 to 15 yrs.
This will keep morale & motivation of the men high and enhance the efficiency & good name of the Force.
BSF raised on Infantry model had L/Nk and Naik.These abolished ignoring professional pitfalls. These must be restored in BSF, ITBP and SSB.Veterans like me & others pitching for these ranks.Time restore L/Nk & Nk in BGFs.@journo_jitendra @BSF_India @ITBP_official @SSB_INDIA