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The Home Minister has called for facing the challenge of terrorism imaginatively, squarely and resolutely. Inaugurating a three-day Conference of Directors General and Inspectors General of Police here this morning, Shri Shivraj Patil said that no democratic Government can tolerate the use of violence against innocent people. On the security situation in various parts of the country, the Home Minister said that the level of violence and killings of innocent people in Jammu and Kashmir has consistently declined. In the North-East, the over-all security situation has shown signs of improvement in terms of declining levels of violence. There have been increasing instances of public protest against high handedness of militant cadres. There has also been an increase in the number of militant groups coming up for talks with the Government. On Naxalism, the Home Minister said that it remains a serious threat to internal security of the country and stressed the need to accord high priority to ensuring faster integrated development of naxal affected areas and also strengthening the administrative machinery in such areas. He said that the Centre would extend all possible assistance to augment local capabilities for intelligence gathering and sharing mechanisms to launch effective police actions in a coordinated and sustained manner. Emphasising the role of police in disaster management, the Home Minister drew the attention of police chiefs to the task of developing specialist response teams in the States. He said that the Central Government would provide necessary assistance for training these teams. Advocating the transition of police from a force to a service, the Home Minister said that police and security forces must be viewed as friends of honest citizens. He said forums need to be developed for free and frank exchange of views to build necessary bridges between the people and the police. The recruitment procedure in police should be so devised that the persons recruited are free from political, personal and corruptive influence. The Home Minister regretted that a large number of police stations are functioning without the most basic facilities. He stressed the need to fully utilize the funds available under the Modernisation of Police Force Scheme. The Home Minister also called upon the police leadership to quickly raise India Reserve Battalions wherever these have been sanctioned and utilize them for law and order and other duties. This would not only help reduce the demand for Central para-military forces but also mitigate to a large extent the unemployment problem. Shri Patil also stressed the need for coordination among States in view of the fact that criminals and crimes have transcended State boundaries. He suggested setting up of five regional bodies for the North, South, East, West and North-East where the Directors General of Police could meet regularly to discuss trends and share their experiences to fine- tune strategies
The Conference will discuss, among others, issues pertaining to national security, left wing extremism – emerging dimensions, disaster management, VIP security, cyber security, counterfeiting of currency, crime against women & children and human trafficking.
Ministers of State for Home, S/Shri Manik Rao H. Gavit, S. Regupathy and Shriprakash Jaiswal; National Security Advisor, Shri M.K. Narayanan; Home Secretary, Shri V.K. Duggal and Director, Intelligence Bureau, Shri E.S.L. Narasimhan were among those present at the function. The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh will address the Conference tomorrow.
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