The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh delivered the 30th Intelligence Bureau (IB) Centenary Endowment Lecture, here today. The Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Hansraj Gangaram Ahir was also present. The Union Home Minister spoke on various aspects of policing that need to be addressed for making a ‘SMART’ police by the year 2022 i.e. when India completes 75 years of independence. He shared his own childhood and other experiences to describe the role of police in the life of a common man. He spoke on various challenges for police in future i.e. cyber crime, urbanisation, radicalisation and various steps that need to be taken to tackle these challenges. While delivering the lecture, Shri Rajnath Singh said that faith of a common man in police is very important and this faith can be increased. He said that police can meet any challenge and face any adverse situation if they take action with due wisdom and patience. He further said that Intelligence agencies play an important role in the successful operations by police, because police needs concrete information to take any action. IB is making a major contribution in curbing the menace of terrorism and Naxalism, he said. The Union Home Minister also appreciated IB for fulfilling their duties with due dedication and commitment.
The Union Home Minister said that a lot needs to be done for making police more capable of meeting the challenges of future. He said that Police Modernisation is very important to achieve the desired results. Elaborating on the challenges of policing in 2022, he said that mega-city challenges are going to increase with increasing urbanisation in future. He emphasised on ‘SMART’ and technology-driven policing to meet these challenges. He said that security component should be an integral part of the smart cities at the conceptualisation level itself. Police should get real time information, he further said. He also emphasised on ‘intelligent traffic management system’, as maximum number of deaths happen due to road accidents. He also said that police system needs to be strengthened in villages as well, as 70% of the population of India lives in villages. He said that the old chaukidari system prevalent in village needs to be revived and strengthened. Speaking on the use of force by the police, Home Minister said that the police need to be cautious while using force against people, specially youth and the police should use due wisdom and patience in dealing with such situations.
Speaking on the challenge of cyber crime, the Home Minister said that infrastructure and expertise needs to be developed to meet the challenge of cyber crime. He also stressed upon coming out of regional attitudes and at the same time emphasised on sharing of information and best practices. The police cannot work in isolation, he further said. Speaking on the phenomena of radicalisation, he said that recently a separate Counter Terrorism and Counter Radicalization Division has been set up to meet this challenge. He also said that base of police i.e. constables need to be empowered and they can be given the responsibility of investigating minor crimes. He also laid emphasis on skill upgradation and regular training and also increasing their promotional avenues to build up their morale. He also informed that Student police cadet programme will be rolled out from Haryana to tap the energies of youth. Speaking on the occasion, Director, IB Shri Rajiv Jain said that this year IB has completed 130 years since its formation in the year 1887. He said that many important personalities have delivered the IB endowment lecture and this is the 30th lecture in that ser+ies. Senior officers of IB and MHA were also present on the occasion.