In this article I want to explain the evolution of RPF. At first RPF stands for Railway Protection Force, a force which is given the security to Indian Railway Property, Passenger and Passenger area. Are you know that the Railway Protection Force is not a Force when it made. Here is the timeline for making Railway Protection Force. Let's see :-
(1854-1861):
The maintenance and security of Railways, the vital artery of national communication and economic progress has been a major concern of the Government of India that goes back to the times when the Railway commenced their operations in India in 1854. Since railways have a linear territory traversing inter-state lines, a foolproof security system has been hard to provide. Nevertheless, the genesis of such an endeavor can be traced back to 1854 when East Indian Railways employed certain staff designated as ‘Police’ to denote its own force by enacting the Police Act, 1861 and deployed a contingent for the security of the railway with the owner companies bearing their upkeep. The Railway Companies exercised full control over the Police Force.
(1861-1956):
On the recommendation of Railway Police Committee, 1872, Railway Police was organized into ‘Govt. Police’ (The precursor of GRP) for Law enforcement and ‘Company Police’ (The precursor of RPF) for Watch and Ward duties in Railways. The actual separation of duties came into effect in 1881. By 1882, as a result of formal division of the Police Force deployed on the railways into “Government Police” and “Private (Companies) Police”, the Railway Companies directly assumed the responsibility of protection and Security of their property as well as of the goods entrusted to them by public for carriage. For this, they appointed “Chowkidars” for various departments and placed them under control of their local departmental heads. With an increase in commercial traffic and consequential steep rise in the incidence of theft of goods entrusted to railways for carriage, the “Chowkidar” system was reorganized after the first World War onto Watch & Ward organization under a single superior officer designated as Superintendent, Watch & Ward – a system which continued up to 1954.Thus the Railway Police Administration functioned under three different systems viz the district system, as a part of District Police; the provincial system, for each province and the Railway Administration system, separate Railway Police for each Railway Administration inspite of recommendations of Indian Police commission, 1902-03. The provincial system found acceptance on recommendation of Railway Police Committee, 1921 and the present GRP came into existence. The ‘Company Police’ evolved into present RPF in 1957 passing through "Watch and Ward" phase from 1872-1954, and as "Railway Security Force" from 1954-1956. RPF was also given limited legal powers under Railway Stores (Unlawful Possession) Act.
(1957-1985):
Thus, for a full 100 years, the Force
though being used for providing security to the vital artery of national
communication and economic progress did not itself have any legislative status.
Therefore the Govt. instituted a special enquiry
through Director, Intelligence Bureau (Ministry of Home Affairs) who in
his report in 1954 forcefully brought out the necessity
of organising the Watch & Ward on
a statutory basis. The Railway Board also appointed
a Security Adviser to the Railway Board in July, 1953 to work
out the details for the reorganisation of
the Watch & Ward department. It was decided in
consultation with the Ministry of Home
Affairs that there should be an integrated well organised
force on the model of the Police with adequate supervisory staff specially
trained to meet the particular aspects of crime that
were relevant to Railway property and to work in close
collaboration and act as a second
line to the States Police with whom,
under the Constitution, policing on Railways
rested. This led to the R.P.F. Bill
for the better protection and security. It was only on 29 August 1957that a Railway Protection Force Act was enacted by the Parliament and
Railway Security Force was renamed as Railway Protection Force. The RPF
Rules were made on 10 September 1959 and RPF Regulations wee formulated
in 1966.In the meantime in 1962 “Special Emergency Force” has been raised from
the existing strength of RPF during Chinese Aggression, which was especially
entrusted the task to protect trains in border districts. In 1965 it has been
renamed as “Railway Protection Special Force”. In 1966 RPF has been given legal
powers for better protection of Railway property by enacting Railway Property(Unlawful Possession.) Act.
But, while the provisions of RPF Act were soon found wanting for the
maintenance of an effective and disciplined Force, the RPF Rules and
Regulations too were found judicially unsound. The RPF Act, 1957 was
accordingly modified by Parliament vide Act No.60 of 1985 on 20 September 1985
for the constitution and maintenance of the Force as an armed force of the
Union. For carrying out the purposes of the Act, RPF Rules 1987 was
framed.
If you want to cover the syllabus of the law in a few hours than purchase E-Book by clicking the link below: -
Law for RPF LDCE Part- 1 E-Book
){kind=link}
0 Comments
If you have any doubt, please visit my YouTube Channel "Law for RPF LDCE" and comments your request.