India, Dec. 4 -- Addressing the conference of the DGPs and IGPs of the country in Raipur (Chhattisgarh) on November 30, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi exhorted the senior police officers to transform the public perception of the police, especially among the youth by enhancing professionalism, sensitivity and responsiveness. There could be no dispute about that. It is a great pity, however, that 78 years after Independence we are still saddled with a police force that was designed by the British administration to subserve their imperial interests. The PM wants to see India emerge as a Viksit Bharat, a laudable objective, no doubt, but an economic superstructure requires solid foundations of good law and order.

That said, the PM's timel...