Elucidation of new public management practices in police: A case study of NCR

Introduction of New Public Management (NPM) in public sector organizations typically results in an overhaul of the existing traditional management system, with renewed emphasis on improving efficiency and performance of the public sector organization. Public sector organizations and countries suffering from corruption, non-performance, bureaucracy, incompetence and high operational costs were in dire need of a new management system that would assist in bringing down operational costs, help manage resources and budget, minimize bureaucracy, eliminate corruption and improve the overall performance of the sector. In this study, the police sector of New Delhi NCR was studied in order to determine the feasibility of the of NPM strategies for bringing about reforms within the system. Detailed interviews were conducted among the top management of the police in the New Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida areas along with a survey among the personnel of all three police forces. Primary data analysis revealed that common perception of NPM among the upper management of the police pertained to better management practices, decrease in bureaucracy, budget and resource management and clear delegation and decentralization of leadership. Moreover, NPM implementation within the police sector was expected to face several challenges including, lack of co-operation from personnel, reserved opinions from policy makers and ministers, confusion during the change in management, assessment problems and resource and budget control. While the primary objective of the Indian Police is to serve and protect the citizens of India, as a sector it was found to be different from other sectors, in terms of lack of competition and market performance pressure, increased pressure of accountability to the public, pressure of positive public image and demand for complex, flexible and sensitive management.