RAIPURU: Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Friday that the three hotspots that had become a “festering wound” for India — Naxalism, the northeast and Jammu and Kashmir — have been given “permanent solutions” by the Narendra Modi government and these regions will soon become like the rest of the country.
In his inaugural address at the three-day DGP/IGP annual conference here, Shah also called for launching a 360-degree attack on narcotics and organised crime, and building such a system that drug traffickers and criminals do not get “even an inch of space” in the country.
He said security forces and police are delivering strong blows to extremism, radicalisation and narcotics by focussing on three key aspects — accuracy of intelligence, clarity of objectives and synergy in action.
Shah said the time has come for state police forces to work together with the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), strike hard at narcotics gangs operating at the state, national and international levels, and put their masterminds behind bars.
He said after the Union government banned the Popular Front of India (PFI), nationwide raids were conducted on the organisation’s hideouts and arrests made, setting an outstanding example of Centre-state coordination.
Underlining the Naxalism problem that has been going on for 40 years, the home minister said the Centre has strengthened the security grid over the last seven years by constructing 586 fortified police stations.
As a result, the number of Naxal-affected districts in the country has come down from 126 in 2014 to just 11 today, he added.
Shah expressed confidence that the country will be completely free from the menace of Naxalism before the next conference of directors general of police (DGPs) and inspectors general of police (IGPs).
He asserted that the Modi government has provided permanent solutions to the three hotspots that had become a “festering wound” for the country — Naxalism, the northeast and Jammu and Kashmir.
Shah said very soon, these regions will become like the rest of the country.
Besides Shah, the 60th edition of the closed-door, off-camera huddle of police chiefs from across the country at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur will also see the participation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval and the heads of central police organisations, including Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief Tapan Kumar Deka.
The important meeting comes within weeks of agencies busting a “white-collar” terror module that was behind a car blast near Delhi’s Red Fort that claimed 15 lives on November 10.
The conference, which will conclude on November 30 with an address by Modi, aims to review the progress made in addressing key policing challenges so far and outline a forward-looking roadmap for building a “Surakshit Bharat”, in alignment with the national vision of “Viksit Bharat”, according to an official statement.
Shah said once the three new criminal laws are fully implemented, policing in India will become the most modern in the world.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has been strengthened, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) has been made more robust, three new criminal laws have been introduced and strong laws have been enacted against narcotics and fugitive offenders, he said.
Shah said under Modi’s leadership, the conference of DGPs and IGPs has emerged as a key forum for resolving the country’s internal security challenges — ranging from identifying problems and challenges to formulating strategies and policies.
Held under the overarching theme of “Viksit Bharat: Security Dimensions”, the conference will host detailed deliberations on key security issues, including left-wing extremism, counter-terrorism, disaster management, women’s safety and the use of forensic science and artificial intelligence (AI) in policing, the statement said.
The conference, which is expected to see the participation of around 600 officers, will provide a platform for senior police officers to freely discuss and debate diverse national security-related issues as well as various operational, infrastructural and welfare-related problems faced by security personnel.
This time, to incorporate new and younger perspectives, the heads of the home departments of states and Union territories as well as several officers at the DIG (deputy inspector general) and SP (superintendent of police) levels will also participate in person.
The annual conference, which culminates in extensive deliberations involving police and intelligence officers from the district, state, and national levels on identified themes, produces tangible action points and progress on issues identified in previous editions, which are presented to the prime minister.
Best practices from states and Union territories are presented during the conference, enabling the states to learn from one another.
The free-flowing discussions allow senior police officials to share their views and recommendations on key policing and internal-security issues affecting the country directly with the prime minister.
Till 2013, the annual meet was held in New Delhi. The following year, after Modi came to power, a decision was taken to keep the event organised by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the IB outside the national capital.
The conference has since been held in Guwahati (Assam), Rann of Kutch (Gujarat), Hyderabad (Telangana), Tekanpur (Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh), Statue of Unity (Kevadiya, Gujarat), Pune (Maharashtra), Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), Jaipur (Rajasthan) and Bhubaneswar (Odisha).
