BENGALURU: As K Annamalai takes on a political role, his first book, Stepping Beyond Khaki: Revelations of a Real-Life Singham
(Bloomsbury, Rs 599), revolves around the policing system and the ‘real heroes’ that the system has. Edited excerpts from the interview:
The book elaborately speaks about how corruption and bribery work in the system. While this is a major issue, is there any solution to it?
A lot of awareness has to be built among the offices, subordinates as well as people. Right now, the fear of punishment is very less. First, the fear of the law has to be there and second, I believe people have to be educated that there are no powerful men in the system. The system itself has to be powerful.
You have spoken about how police postings are described in four different categories. Could you elaborate on that?
The four categories I have mentioned are easy postings, tough ones and medium ones, and Naxal area postings. They are in respect to the bribe that one can get in the different categories. There are some areas which are demanding as well as lucrative, while some postings are easy-going but not lucrative. That’s how the police model has evolved over a period of time, unfortunately.
Out of four categories, which one do you think you got during your initial days?
ASP periods are always a testing time. I had mentioned the category where there are Naxal areas where nobody wants to go. That’s the kind of posting you usually get and from there you have to start proving yourself. So, during my initial posting, I was in communal areas like Udupi, Chikmagalur, Mangaluru and Bengaluru. I was lucky that I got recognised for my work. Politicians were also careful with respect to who I am. I thoroughly enjoyed my career without much disturbance from anybody.
Politicians have a strong hold on the police. Now that you are on the other side, how do you plan to bring about reforms?
Basic reforms have to happen immediately. These are mostly external like pay revision, giving proper equipment and resource to fight because in police system the budget is very poor. Some internal reforms are supposed to happen. The police system has become a very hierarchical structure. Though hierarchy is important, it should not muffle creativity and stop anyone from doing their duty in the right way.
During your service, was there any situation where you had to pick between what was right and what you were asked to do?
My policy from Day 1 was doing what is right. Many a time, you earn the wrath of your seniors, politicians, etc, but I always kept it right. Once you build your reputation, it travels with you. Maybe the first few years were difficult to maintain that. In that way, Bengaluru was very easy since people already knew who am I.
The book refers to ‘real heroes’. Who are these heroes you are referring to and what makes you call them so?
The real heroes are my subordinate staffs – the constables and head constables. They work 18-20 hours, however, the payscale is very low. But many times, I have seen that they are go-getters.
The memoir does not reveal many names while speaking about corruption and bribery. Was it a conscious decision to keep the identities anonymous?
The book is not about me. If it was, I would have given specific names. This book is about the system, head constables and constables.
You joined politics in 2020. With a memoir released so soon in your political career, do we expect
a second part to it?
Police is mostly wrongly seen and often the system has been misunderstood. I wanted to write something with my viewpoint so that people get an idea about how it works. If and when I think there is something interesting to say, there will probably be a second book.
What is your advice to IPS aspirants?
The country looks up to honest people with integrity. These are the two things we can carry and there is no price around it.