Life is precious

The life of the people is more important than the security arrangement of
any VIP in the country. We are saddened by the news of the death of
Sumit Verma only because he could not reach PGMIR Chandigarh in
time. Why he could not reach. It is because of Prime Minister’s security
cordon as he was going to adress the convocation at the premier institute
of Chandigarh. The sad incident only reflects that the
security of VIPs in the country is more important than the precious life of
the common people. Though Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has
expressed his sadness in his letter to the family of the deceased, the VIP
for whom security cordon is arranged must be judicious , conscious of the
inconenience to the people caused by his movement by roads. The
security personnel are unnecessarily shows over vigilance resulting in the
great inconvenience of the common people. The security must be given to the VIPs and they must be protected. But
it does not mean that this should be done at the cost of the lives of
general people. The authorities concerned at the PGIMR Chandigarh and
the security personnel must have anticipated that during the address of
the PM at the convocation , there might come patient to admit in the
emergency ward. Sumit Verma had severe kidney ailments and he was
crying in pain and even in that condition the security personnel at the
gates asked them to go through one gate from another. And in the
meantime, he breathed his last as doctor at the institute declared him
brought dead.The sad incident at PGI paints the picture of sorry state of affairs in our
country. Though PM deserves to be given highest grade of security, the
security provision is generally linked to status symbols among political
class. This must be stopped and security perception must be overhauled.
It must be ensured that the security cordon for VIP should cause
minimum inconvenience to the general people and it also must be
ensured that emergency services should not be obstructed because of
the visit of VIPs. The security personnel must also be trained in such a manner that they
could not forget to apply humanitarian approach when they faced with the
cases like Sumit Verma. It is because of them that he could not get
medical aid in time that resulted into his sad demise. The best apology to
the family of Sumit Verma by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would
be that he gets the security personnel engaged in providing security to
VIPs overhauled and trained in the way that they could apply their
judiciousness to minimise the inconveniences of the general people.